The Good Daughter
by purple.sunrise
Summary: After the death of Ambassador Prentiss, Emily discovers betrayal, deception, lies and family secrets. Documents found in a safety deposit box reveals an unexpected connection that will forever alter her relationship with another member of the BAU. Will it bring the two of them closer together? Est H/P
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fanfiction. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.

 **CHAPTER 1**

Aaron Hotchner walked into his house late in the evening. Taking in the silence and low ambient light he dropped his go-bag and briefcase at the bottom of the stairs and toed off his shoes before climbing the stairs.

Reaching the top, he approaches the first door and quietly walks into the room. Leaning over, he places a kiss on Jack's forehead before tiptoeing back out of the room. Opening the next door, he enters his daughter's nursery. Glancing into her crib, he is pleasantly surprised to see the infant sleeping peacefully.

In the days leading up to the team's latest case, she had been unusually cranky, only sleeping in small bursts. He had felt conflicted leaving Emily, who hadn't slept for more than a couple hours at a stretch for several days, when the team had been called for this last case. However, she had given him a kiss and told him that she would be fine with the kids. The team needed him on the jet.

Thinking about Emily as he quietly exited the nursery, he headed for their bedroom at the end of the hall. As he crossed the threshold of the room, he was surprised the find the room empty. Retracing his steps down the hall to check the upstairs playroom before taking the back staircase down into the kitchen.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he noticed movement coming from the laundry room.

He walked over to the doorway of the laundry room before saying. "Hi sweetheart."

As much as he wanted to walk in and surprise her by wrapping his arms around her, he now knew better than to sneak up on the trained FBI agent, having made that mistake once early in their relationship.

He had come over to her apartment unexpectedly early for dinner and had let himself in with his key when she didn't answer the door. He had found her hanging laundry in her closet, not realizing she hadn't heard his greeting because she was listening to music through earbuds, he embraced her from behind. Thirty seconds later, he had found himself on the floor in extreme pain holding his face and groin, 2 body area of his that she had claimed to really love.

Emily had been horrified when she turned around and realized it was him that she had just taken down.

The team, of course, had been concerned when he walked into the office the next day with his nose taped, 2 black eyes from the broken nose and a significant limp. Emily had been mortified when their concern turned to humor when they heard what happened.

However since that day, the men of the team, especially Reid, were careful not to sneak up on her.

Emily turned and smiled before walking over to him. "Aaron, I didn't hear you come in."

Hotch pulled her into a hug and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Not letting go, he responded softly. "I must have missed you when I went upstairs." He took a few deep breaths, breathing in the smell of her shampoo before continuing, "I see that Natalie is sleeping again."

Emily chuckled and moved to place a chaste kiss on his lips before stepping away from him, continuing to fold laundry. "Yes, thank goodness," she said while rolling her eyes before continuing, "the day after you left her new teeth broke through. She is back to sleeping mostly through the night since then. How was the case?"

Hotch sighed and shook his head before answering, suddenly feeling exhausted. "Long and awful. We caught the UNSUB this afternoon. Suicide by cop."

Hotch stepped away from the laundry room heading back to the entryway to get his go-bag. Arriving back at the laundry room, he immediately noticed the suspicious look that his wife was giving him as he took the dirty clothes out of his bag and separated the items into the sorter or onto the rack to go to the dry cleaners.

"What aren't you telling me, Aaron? What happened?" Looking down he cringed knowing he should have expected her to know. She was a profiler too.

He walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders before answering. "When we caught up with the UNSUB, he tried to shoot his way out." He took a deep breath before continuing. "He killed the head detective. Dave and Spencer were both hit too."

"What! Are they OK?" Emily said panicked. The hardest part for her about not travelling with Hotch and the team was when she heard that one of them had been hurt while on a case.

Hotch held onto her shoulders and after making eye contact, answered softly. "Both got hit in their vests and were cleared at the hospital to fly back. They said to tell you they are fine and will see you tomorrow." As he said as he pulled her into a hug and held her until he could feel her relax.

"I'm so glad they are OK." Emily said quietly still curled up against his chest. Hotch reached up and started to rub circles on her back. They stood like that for a few minutes until Emily looked up at him and asked, "Did you eat Aaron?"

Hotch shook his head while looking at her. "No, not yet. I wanted to see you first."

Emily turned and pulled him gently by the arm towards the kitchen. "I'm glad you did but you need to eat." When they reached the kitchen, she stopped and leaned in to give him a kiss. "I have a plate for you in the warming oven. Go sit down and I'll bring it over for you." As Emily walked over to the oven, Hotch sat down at the kitchen table.

A couple of minutes later, Emily walked over and placed a plate with grilled salmon, mashed potatoes and steamed asparagus in front of him. "Thanks Em." Hotch said as he started to eat.

Stepping away from the table Emily asked, "Do you want wine?"

"Please." Hotch replied and Emily walked over to cabinet to take out a glass before walking over to the wine refrigerator to pour his wine. Hotch watching as she moved around the kitchen before returning to the table and sitting down after handing him the wine glass. "So tell me about your week." He asked after taking a sip from the glass.

Emily smiled at him and looked towards the stairs before she said. "Well. It improved greatly once Natalie started sleeping again." They both laughed before Emily continued enthusiastically, "she is still trying to figure out crawling but it won't be too much longer.

Jack learned to pump himself on the swings so he has been spending as much playground time as possible at preschool and at home on the swings. He'll probably want to show you. He also has not stopped talking about his party tomorrow."

Emily stopped and walked over to the counter and came back with several pieces of paper. "I'm so glad that we did so much of the shopping for it last weekend."

After sitting down, she continued while looking down at the list in front of her. "I just need to go to the grocery store in the morning to pick up a few things, the cake at the bakery and the party store for the balloons I ordered. The decorations are laid out in the dining room and I'll work on the ones on the table when I come back..."

"What, I don't get to do anything?" Hotch asked annoyed. He knew that he missed time with the kids with his work at the BAU. But the team had flown back and it was in time for him to help set up for the party and Emily was still planning on doing all the setup herself.

Emily looked up at him confusedly and then took in the look on his face. She knew how hard it was for him to travel and be away from her and the kids.

Going through what she had just said, Emily realized the error in what she had just said and sighed. She knew that involvement with the kids was a sensitive subject for him. Haley had gone out of her way to exclude Aaron from Jack whenever possible after they separated, even violating their custody agreement at times in doing it. Whenever the team was is town, Aaron wanted to know when any appointment or activity for the kids was, no matter how short or mundane so he could do his best to be there.

Emily reached over and held his hand as she replied softly, "of course you do. You've been gone all week and I was going to take care of those errands so you could stay here and have time with the kids, especially Jack. They've missed you and I can tell you missed them. Believe me, there is plenty to do." She gestured over to the pile of paper in front of her. Going through the pile, Emily pulled out a sheet and handed it to him, "I even have a list that you and Jack can work on together."

Hotch took the sheet which was appropriately titled 'Jack and Daddy's Fun List' and read through it before looking back up at her smiling. Every item on the list was an activity that not only needed to be done for the party but also ones they both knew Jack would love doing. And after several days away would love even more to have his dad help him complete it.

Hotch reached over and cupped her cheek. "I'm sorry Em. You're right. I do want to spend time with them. But I also wanted to be involved with setting up for the party. I can also see how tired you are and it sounded like you were going to try to do everything yourself."

Emily nodded before leaning into his hand and sighing. "You're right. I am tired. I'd like to extend my reduced hours at work for another week but I don't know if that's going to happen."

Emily had taken a 4 month maternity leave. However when she returned last month, it was with reduced hours to ease back into the BAU as now being the mother of 2. Not that she had been absent from the BAU for 4 months. Since Natalie was about 7 weeks old, Emily had gone into the office for a few hours each week to check in with her team and attend the weekly department meeting.

Hotch had wanted her to take 6 months of leave. He had been concerned that it would be too much for her with the amount of travel he did with his team. After disagreeing and Hotch finally acknowledging it was ultimately Emily's decision, and after talking to Dave and Strauss, he took himself off of the travel rotation for the first month Emily was back at work. The case he had just returned from was only the third time he had travelled with the team since Emily had returned to the BAU after Natalie's birth.

"How is work going?" Hotch asks sitting in his seat.

Emily had been promoted to Unit Chief for a new separate team within the BAU over a year earlier. Her team was smaller and did not travel unlike the rest of the BAU teams. It was mostly comprised of promising agents who had taken the profiling courses but needed practice before they could be considered for one of the other BAU teams.

Emily stood up and cleared the dishes off the table before walking over to the dishwasher and started filling it. "I had a meeting with Strauss yesterday. We decided to transfer Callahan and Marshall off my team."

Hotch sighed before continuing. "Well, Callahan I'm not surprised about but what happened with Marshall?" Hotch had had more than one negative run in with Agent Callahan while Emily was on maternity leave. She had been a source of negativity for Emily's team and the BAU as a whole for several months. It was worse than when Jordan Todd had covered JJ's leave when Henry was born.

Emily shook her head and looked at him sadly. Amy Marshall, on the other hand, was an agent that Emily had started mentoring even before she came to her team. Whatever the reason for the transfer had to been significant. "The cases were getting to her. Some acting as a trigger."

Agent Marshall had been kidnapped and held for several days during an investigation of a rapist while assigned to the FBI field office in Sacramento 2 years earlier.

"We talked with her and she is going to transfer to a desk position in CTU doing analysis. If she gets counseling and psych signs off, we will consider her transferring back in 12 months. I hope she does. She'd be a good profiler."

Hotch looked on as Emily looked at the table in front of her, recognizing the internal struggle she was having. He hoped that this aspiring profiler would consider coming back to the BAU too.

"So what's the plan? You only had 4 people on your team to begin with." Hotch said trying to rotate the subject somewhat to break his wife out of the funk she had suddenly fallen into, knowing the necessary administrative decision hadn't been an easy one for her.

Emily looked over at him with a tired look on her face before throwing her hands up and answering, "I know! That's why I don't think I can delay going back full time next week. Greene from Cooper's team was shot and had knee surgery. He won't be cleared to even travel with their team for at least a week so Strauss is going to have him float over to help Walker and I starting Monday. I also have a couple of agents that have completed the profiling courses that are ready to come over. It's just going to be a lot of orienting everyone." Hotch stood up and walked up behind her and started to massage her shoulders.

After a couple of minutes, he could feel some of the tension go away. He took her hand and pulled her up to standing. He place his index finger under her chin and lifted it until she was looking at him before saying softly, "Tell me what you need. With Dave and Reid hurt we are off rotation for at least a week. Maybe we should conference together for the week."

"That sound like a great idea." Emily said leaning up against him. "I'm so glad you're back, Aaron. I missed you."

They moved closer until their lips met. What started as a chaste kiss quickly heated up and became passionate. They broke apart a couple of minutes later, breathing heavily. Emily leaned forward and was resting her forehead on his chest while they both tried to catch their breath.

Then Hotch leaned down and started to place small kisses as he moved up her neck. She turned her head to give him better access. When he got to her ear, he whispered, "I missed you, too." He could feel her smile against his chest. Moving over to the other side, he placed kisses on her neck then lightly licked her earlobe for which he was rewarded with a moan from her.

Turning her head until her mouth was at his ear, Emily whispered, "Show me." Hotch stopped and looked at her before lifting her bridal style and climbed the stairs.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

It was early evening and all the guests from Jack's party had left except for the team and Will. They had stayed to help clean up and for dinner.

Due to Emily's careful planning all week, the party preparation had gone off without any major problems. Jack had a great time setting up with his dad. It had been the first thing he told members of the team as each of them arrived. He, along with Henry, had a great time playing the other children from preschool invited to the party.

As soon as they had arrived at the party both Reid and Rossi had come over and assured Emily that they were OK knowing their brunette former teammate was worried after hearing they were injured.

While the other adults were busy downstairs after dinner, Hotch was in the upstairs playroom helping Jack and Henry build a tower with wooden blocks. This was a special treat where they could built a high block tower since Natalie and Henry's younger sister Caitlin were being entertained downstairs. Usually the towers needed to stay low over fears that falling wooden blocks would accidentally hit the infants.

The boys laughed as the tower fell over again and Hotch wasn't sure what they were finding the most fun- building the tower or knocking it over.

As they started to rebuild the tower again, Will walked into the room and over to Hotch before saying. "Aaron, Emily may need you downstairs."

Jumping up, he asked worriedly, "What happened?"

"A car from the Diplomatic Security Service just pulled up in front of the house." Will paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "Emily got pale when Alex pointed it out. She said she's fine but…" Will stopped as they both knew the concern.

It was no secret among the team that Emily and her mother had had a difficult relationship for years. After Emily started dating and later married Hotch, it had further deteriorated. If history was any indication, having the Ambassador show up, particularly unexpectedly, was guaranteed to be a stressful experience.

Hotch sighed and shook his head not sure why the Ambassador would chose to show up on Jack's birthday when she had been refusing to acknowledge him as Emily's adopted son. "Yeah. I'll go down. Can you stay with them?"

"Of course." Will replied before he walked over and sat on the floor with the boys to oversee their construction of the bigliest tower in the whole wide world according to Jack and Henry.

Hotch quickly headed down the hall and started down the stairs. He was about halfway down when the doorbell rang. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he nodded to JJ who was at the door. She stepped away and Aaron opened the door to 2 men in dark suits.

"Can I help you?" Hotch said to the men after he opened the door.

"Yes, we are Agents Hickman and Thomas, DSS. We need to speak to Emily Prentiss." The taller of the 2 men said gesturing to himself and his partner before they showed Hotch their badges.

"Come in please." Hotch said as he stepped aside allowing the 2 men in the foyer area inside the house. After he closed the door, he noticed that entire team had moved into the foyer area close to where it bordered the kitchen.

Emily was standing between Dave and JJ. Taking a deep breath and then sighing, Emily stepped forward toward the 2 men and shook their hands before moving to stand next to her husband. "I'm Emily Prentiss Hotchner. I'm assuming you are here with a message from my mother, Ambassador Prentiss."

"Not quite, Mrs Hotchner. Could we speak privately?" Agent Hickman asked, looking at the assembled group.

Emily shook her head before saying. "It's Agent Prentiss, FBI. This is my husband, Agent Hotchner. Everyone else here is a close friend. Anything that you have to say, can be said in front of them."

The 2 DSS agents looked at each other trading uncomfortable looks. After a minute, Agent Hickman stated. "We would prefer to speak to you privately but since it is your wish to have your husband and friends present. A few hours ago, your mother and stepfather were being driven to an event in Boston. Their vehicle was hit at high speed by a drunk driver. I regret to inform you that she was pronounced at the scene along with driver. Your stepfather and the security officer traveling with them were taken to the hospital." Emily tilted her head and looked at the DSS agents in front of her then over to Aaron and then back to the Agents.

"She died, ma'am." The other DSS agent, Agent Thomas stated. Emily took a deep breath and pulled up every ounce of her diplomatic training that had been ingrained in her since her childhood. Looking back at the agents she replied. "I understand. Thank you for coming by to inform me in person."

The 2 agents nodded their heads and turned towards the door, "Yes ma'am. We're sorry for your loss." Aaron walked over to front door with the agents. Before they left both shook his hand and gave condolences.

Turning back around, Aaron immediately noticed that his wife was no longer standing where she had been a few seconds earlier. He dropped his head when he heard heavy footsteps on the back stairs. Everyone in the room cringed when they heard a door slam hard enough upstairs that it rattled pictures on the wall.

"Do you want us to stay, Aaron?" Dave asked after a couple of minutes.

"Thanks for the offer but I don't think so." Hotch answered knowing that Emily needed some space to process the news.

"I feel like we should do something." Reid said.

"What can we do Hotch?" Morgan asked while pacing into the kitchen

Hotch looked at sad faces of their closest friends. He knew their offers to help were sincere. He took a deep breath before saying. "There are few things that would really help."

"Name them." JJ stated confidently with the rest of the team standing next to her.

"Dave, can you brief Strauss? Take our team completely off rotation. Let her know we are both going to be out of the office for a few days." Dave nodded and Hotch turned to the other side of the room.

"Blake, can you take over Emily's role of 1st contact for the BAU? Have the operator make the switch." Blake agreed immediately having taken on this role during Emily's maternity leave.

Another role that Emily had been given as leader of her team was to do intake for any and all cases that the BAU was being asked to consult. She reviewed each case and then determined its urgency and what team it would be passed onto based on the specifics of the case and which team was available if being on site was necessary.

"Derek, I need you to make yourself available to travel with Cooper's team. Greene was shot on their last case and isn't cleared to even travel with their team. With our team completely off rotation, they may need to take a case and I don't want them to have to go into the field short-handed." Derek quickly agreed and said he would let Cooper know.

"JJ, 2 new training profilers are suppose to start on Emily's team on Monday. Can you get them oriented and then started with some basic consults? Make sure they are included in the daily conferencing with our team." She nodded quickly accepting the role. Having worked on Emily's team when she first finished the profiling courses and throughout her pregnancy with Caitlin, JJ knew the organization of her best friend's team.

"Reid and Garcia, on Monday, work with Walker to go through all of their cases. Separate out the more basic consults to pass off to JJ for the training profilers. Walker should keep enough to work on, keep enough for Greene, and then distribute the rest among the all of the teams." They both nodded.

Hotch looked at his team. "Any questions?" When everyone shook their heads, he answered, "OK, thanks everyone."

JJ walked over to him and put her hand on his arm. He turned and looked at her as she quietly asked. "Hotch, will you let Will and I take the kids, at least for tonight? Emily is going to need you."

He looked at the worry on JJ's face and knew she was right and that the kids would be in good hands. He nodded and said, "That would be great, JJ. Thank you."

"I'll go up and tell Will." Reid said anxious for something to do that would help Emily.

"Thanks Spence." said JJ as he quickly ran up the front stairs towards the playroom.

Garcia started up the stairs behind him before turning around and saying, "I'll go pack bags for Jackster and Rainbow."

Hotch looked up and smiled at the team's eccentric tech goddess, "Thanks Penelope."

Dave walked over and placed his hand on Hotch's shoulder. "Aaron, go be with her. We'll take of things down here. We'll keep both teams running too. And if either of you need anything, call. I'll check in with you tomorrow."

Hotch looked at his longtime friend and smiled at Dave's sincerity, knowing he meant every word he just said. He nodded before saying, "Thanks Dave. I'm just going to say a quick goodnight to the kids."

They both turned quickly as they heard scampering on the stairs before Dave walked away towards the family room. Hotch subconsciously winced, hoping that Jack won't fall in his rush to get down the stairs as he had done a couple weeks earlier.

When Jack came into view, Hotch smiled to see that Jack was not only holding onto the railing as was a household rule but also to Reid's hand. Will was a few steps behind, carrying Henry.

As Jack reached the bottom of the stairs, he jumped off the last step and ran excitedly over to his father and hugged his legs. Leaning over Hotch picked him up and rustled his light brown hair. Jack bounced in his arm and said excitedly, "Daddy, Daddy, Unca 'encer said me and Nat'lee are having a sleep'ver at Henry's house."

Hotch smiled at his son's enthusiasm and quickly answered. "That's right, Buddy. Can you be a good boy for Uncle Will and Aunt JJ?" Jack looked his father in the eyes while enthusiastically nodding his head.

"He always is." JJ said quietly as she walked back into the room holding Caitlin. She came over and stopped, standing behind Jack. Dave came up beside her holding Natalie who had her head resting on Dave's shoulder as he rubbed her back.

Jack looked around the room before saying, "I need to say goodnight to Mommy." Not seeing his mother, he tried to wiggle out of Hotch's arms. Hotch tightened his hold on his son before answering, "Not now Buddy. She isn't feeling well. If you want, you can give me an extra kiss and I'll give it to her when I go up to check on her."

Jack turned back to look at his father with a very serious look on his face. "She slammeded the door really really hard. We aren't 'pose to slammeded doors. Mommy said so." Jack was nodding his head as he finished.

"She'll be OK Buddy. I'll talk to her about the door." Hotch replied as he sighed before shaking his head.

Hotch and Emily had become very strict about the no slamming doors rule after a scary occurance months early. JJ and Henry were over visiting while Hotch and Will were out for an extended bike ride. A disagreement over toys had resulted in an angry Jack storming out of the upstairs playroom with Henry closely behind him.

Before Emily and JJ who were both heavily pregnant at the time could catch up with them, they heard Jack's bedroom door slam shut followed a few seconds later by Henry sobbing loudly. Both mothers were panicked when they reached Henry and in the course of checking him over for injuries found out that Henry was crying not because the door hit him but because Jack had shut him out of his room.

Hotch and Will returned to the house to a teary and subdued Jack sitting on the timeout step. After Will, JJ and Henry left, Hotch and Emily talked to him about what had happened and that slamming doors wasn't OK. They both worked with him in the next few weeks on other things he could try if he was upset that would not get him a timeout.

And while Jack wasn't slamming doors as much, it was an ongoing issue. That was until a time he did it a couple of weeks after Natalie was born. Natalie had been colicky and was not sleeping well and therefore Emily wasn't sleeping well. Having finally gotten the newborn to sleep and with Aaron home to supervise Jack, Emily went to her room to take a nap.

The door to Jack's room slamming woke her up followed a few seconds later by a crying baby. Exhausted, Emily heard Aaron put Jack in time out after going to comfort their now crying infant.

Emily decided enough was enough. She left her room and walked down to the garage where they keep the tools. Taking a screwdriver and rubber mallet, she went back upstairs and while Jack looked on in horror as she popped the door off its hinges before safely securing the door in a guest bedroom closet. She then returned the tools to their proper place before returning to her room. All without saying a word.

Later that day, Emily sat down with Jack and explained that she took that door away to help him remember that slamming it was not OK. That he or someone else could get really hurt and she knew that he would feel really sad if he accidentally hurt someone. Once Jack got his door back 2 weeks later, he had been cautious when closing it so his mother wouldn't take it away again.

"Is she going to have a timeout?" Jack asked innocently.

Hotch shook his head and tried to ignore the soft chuckles from the team behind him. "That's not something for you to worry about, Jack." Hotch answered before putting Jack back on the floor. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he ran over to where Will was helping Henry put on his coat.

Hotch turned back around as he heard clacking on the stairs to see Garcia making her way back down with the travel bags they used for the kids. After handing off the bags to Reid, she said. "Hotch I got their bags complete with Jackster's bear and Rainbow's blanket."

Hotch couldn't help himself from smiling at the nicknames she had given his kids. "Thanks Penelope."

Garcia gave him a small smile before saying. "No problem, sir. Just take good care of my girl."

Hotch nodded. "I will. Let me give Natalie a hug before you go." He then reach out to take a very sleepy Natalie from Dave.

Noticing that she was dressed in a Winnie the Pooh sleeper which indicated to him that Emily had started her bedtime routine he asked, "Did Emily get the chance to feed her?"

JJ, who had just handed Caitlin to Garcia after putting Caitlin's coat on answered, "Yes, Emily had just finished burping her when DSS arrived. We still have some of her milk on our freezer so we are set."

It was times like this that Hotch was grateful that they were such close friends in JJ and Will that the mothers kept frozen breastmilk at each other's houses.

As she was talking JJ had slipped one and then the other of Natalie's arms into her coat while Hotch held her. With both arms in, he turned her around so JJ could zip it up. After placing another kiss on her forehead, he handed her to JJ.

Noticing that it was time to go, Garcia said, "OK, Jack, say goodnight to your dad. Let's go get you and Henry in the car." Jack, who now had his coat and shoes, turned smiling to his dad and waved goodbye. He walked out the door holding Garcia's hand as she carried a tired Henry. Will followed with Caitlin and then Reid went out next with the bags. JJ was the last one out still holding Natalie.

After the kids left, Hotch headed upstairs while Derek, Dave and Alex worked on cleaning up from the party and dinner. Reid came back in once he put the bags in the car and helped secure the kids into their carseats in JJ and Will's car. Garcia was going with the LaMontagnes' to help with the kids for the night.

As Hotch reached their bedroom door, he stopped and took a deep breath. Slowly opening the door, he entered the darkened room and closed the door behind him. Looking across the room, he noticed his wife lying on their bed, facing away from him. Climbing on the bed, he moved over next to Emily. Concerned when she tensed up as he put his arms around her, he pulled her back flush against his chest. He was relieved when she relaxed back into him and interlaced her fingers with his. It was several minutes before she said anything and even then, it was barely louder than a whisper.

"It's too late."

"Too late for what sweetheart?" He replied confusedly.

"To be a good daughter. To be the daughter she wanted."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the positive response to this story. I appreciate the review, PMs, favorites and follows.**

 **This chapter ended up being super short so I'm also going to upload chapter 4.**

 **CHAPTER 3**

Emily walked into her house and headed straight for the kitchen. Placing her purse and coat on a chair, she walked over and poured herself a glass of water. She and Hotch had just arrived home after her mother's funeral.

It had only been 5 days since the news of her mother's death reached her however it seemed like had been so much longer.

She had been tired before the day of Jack's party and now she was at the point of exhaustion. She was not anymore physically tired though the emotional angst had been at an all time high this week.

Her stepfather seemed to want to fight her at every step. He had insisted that Emily be present at the funeral home and church when plans were being made. However, anytime she would try to make a suggestion or decision, he would belittle her and/or decide the exact opposite.

Knowing that he just lost his wife, Emily had worked hard to control her own emotions to avoid an argument with him every time he would yell at her.

And if that hadn't been enough to frustrate her, he continued to refuse to acknowledge that she was married and had children.

He refused to name Aaron or the children in the obituary.

He had also objected to Aaron's presence at all of the meetings. But after seeing the emotional state Emily was in at the end of the first day, Aaron had not given in to him on being by her side after that. At the meeting with the priest to plan the funeral mass, Aaron excused himself and Emily after her stepfather had repeatedly attacked her verbally.

Today at the funeral, he had excluded Aaron from the family pews only to become incensed when Emily also left to go back and sit with Aaron and their BAU family.

They were home for a quick lunch before needing to head to the offices of the Prentiss family lawyer for the reading of her mother's will. Emily was grateful that the firm was able to schedule the time for this afternoon. She hoped after today that she would never have to see the hateful man that her mother had married again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: please see 1st chapter**

 **CHAPTER 4**

As the door to the conference room behind them, Hotch and Emily looked around the room in front of them before looking at each other. Hotch sat down in one of the leather chairs around the conference table. Emily sat down next to him briefly before standing back up and beginning to pace around the room.

They were at the offices of the Prentiss family lawyer for the reading of the Ambassador's will. There had been a delay after a confrontation with Emily's stepfather when they first arrived.

As had been par for other meetings, he had strenuously objected to Hotch's presence when they reached the lawyer's office. Once again reiterating that he was staying by his wife's side, Hotch and Emily both noticed subtle changes in the behavior of the family attorney, Mr Tate who she knew was a partner in the firm.

After a series of questions about their marriage, Mr Tate told Emily's stepfather that as her husband Hotch was entitled to be there.

Before they went any further, Mr Tate announced a delay. As tensions were high, Hotch and Emily were shown to a separate conference room where they were currently waiting.

After about 5 minutes, a paralegal came into the room and asked if they had a family attorney. Hotch replied that he was a lawyer however yes they did have a lawyer on retainer. She then asked him to call their attorney and ask him to come to the office. Though they had not been told what the problem was, Hotch knew from experience that from the request that was just made something significant and serious was happening.

When their attorney, Neil Anders, arrived 20 minutes later along with his firm's probate expert, Michael Donovan, the four of them were escorted into the larger office of the firm's managing partner, Mr Barton. There waiting for them were the three lead attorneys for the firm who the two profilers noticed all looked nervous.

After introductions were made, Mr Barton turned to Emily, "Mrs Hotchner, when you arrived here today, we were alerted to a significant error that was made in regards to your trust funds."

Emily looked at Aaron before turning back to Mr Barton, "I don't understand, what trust funds?"

Mr Barton nodded and sat back down in his seat and interlacing his fingers in front of him before stating. "As the firm representing the Breckenridge and Prentiss families, in addition to handling your mother's will we have also handled the wills of many other members of those families including your father and mother's father." He stopped and took a deep breath before nodding his head towards Hotch as he continued. "When you came in today and introduced your husband, we realized an error that we made as trustees of your inheritance."

Emily could feel the tears build up in her eyes at the unexpected mention of her father and grandfather. It had been a long time since they passed away however she had been close to both of them. "They both died when I was a young child. What does my marriage have to do with their wills?" Emily said starting to annoyed and wishing that they would get to the point of this meeting.

"Since you were a young child when both of them died, what they left you in their respective wills was held for you in trust. This firm along with your mother and Uncle Andrew until his death were appointed by the court to oversee both trusts until you could access it as outlined in their wills." Mr Stevens, the third lawyer replied.

As he said that, Emily had a sudden recognition about why they were meeting, why it was vital for her lawyer to be there and why all 3 men in front of her had looked nervous since she and Aaron had walked into the room. "So let me guess. I could access them at an earlier age if I was married. Probably 30 since Aaron and were married when I was 28. And my mother somehow interfered."

"Yes." replied Mr Stevens as he moved two documents in front of him. Turning the page of one of the documents, he adjusted his glasses as he looked back up at her. "In the case of your father's will, you and your husband could gain full access to your inheritance at 30 if you were married before your 30th birthday. If not, you would gain access to it at 35. Since you are entitled to full access of that trust, we have a team working right now to turn over everything to you and your husband ASAP. Before you both leave today, we will go through his will item by item so you both know what to expect."

"Can I see a copy of that will now." Mr Donovan said walking up to the trio.

"Of course." Mr Stevens handed a copy of the document to him. Mr Donovan then walked to the other end of the table, sat down and started paging through the will.

Mr Anders looked at his colleague and then went on to ask knowing that as bad as the error that had already been mentioned was, it wasn't the reason that they were asked to attend and would make the men in front of him nervous. "You also mentioned Emily's grandfather. Does his will have the same stipulation?"

"Yes and no. In his will, Emily also needed to be married before her 30th birthday in order for her or her and her husband I should say would receive her inheritance from him. There is a significant difference in his will though which is why we asked for their attorney to also be present at this meeting." Mr Tate replied before looking over at his 2 colleagues.

"What is the difference?" Hotch asked having been quietly observing until that point.

"According to your grandfather's will if you were not married by the age of 30, you would lose the inheritance." Mr Stevens said looking directly at Emily.

Emily took some deep breaths and shook her head before looking back to at lawyers and stating, "And it would go to my mother."

Mr Stevens nodded. "Yes. That is why we have delayed the reading of her will. We need to separate out what is rightfully yours and your husband's before we can proceed with distributing her estate as outlined in her will."

Mr Donovan looked up and said firmly as he shook his head, "I need to see his will as well" as he walked over and took the offered document before returning to his seat.

Emily watched him paging through her grandfather's will while still shaking his head. She then turned back to the firm's lawyers to ask. "So she did receive my inheritance?"

The three men looked at each other before Mr Barton replied, "Yes, late last year in the middle of November."

Emily chuckled bitterly before rolling her eyes and then said sarcastically, "wow, she waited a whole 4 weeks after my birthday." Emily paused and looked over at Aaron and then Neil Anders before looking back at Aaron. She took a deep breath to help tamp down her anger before continuing, "I'm sorry to ask this but how the hell did this happen? Our wedding was here in Virginia and is a matter of public record."

The three lawyers nodded and then looked at each other. They were all expecting the obvious and understandable question. Mr Tate was the one of the three that spoke having been the one to meet with the ambassador at the time in question. "Late last summer your mother came in to update her will in addition to another matter which we can not discuss due to attorney-client privilege. While she was here we discussed your trusts. She stated that you were not married and that with your lifestyle, she didn't expect you to be any time soon if at all." As he finished the last sentence he looked at Emily pointedly.

Emily confusingly looked over at Aaron before asking, "Lifestyle? I don't understand. What lifestyle?" It had been clear for years that the Ambassador hadn't supported her decision to join the FBI however she wouldn't really call it an unique lifestyle worthy of the reaction that the attorneys were alluding to. Many FBI agents got married and and families. And even with that argument, it wasn't one that could disqualify her from receiving an inheritance, could it?

The men in front of her looked back without expression before Mr Tate shook his head slightly before leaning forward with his hands in the table. Looking at her, he replied with condescension clear in his voice. "Drinking, drugs, smoking, promiscuity. Your father set up a college fund for you that would have _completely_ paid for college yet you dropped out after a semester. Do we need to go on in front of your husband, Emily?" As he finished, he pushed back from the table without taking his eyes off her and crossed his arms in front of him.

Emily looked at him in shock. She knew that her and her mother had issues but couldn't believe that her mother would say such outlandish things about her. "What?! She said all that?"

Mr Barton nodded and replied. "Yes and more. We all knew about how rebellious you were starting in your teens, what you did when you were in Rome. Your mother has kept us updated since then." Mr Tate nodded at his statement taking a similar position was his colleagues.

Emily looked down and started to anxiously play with a thread on her jacket. Aaron reached over and took her hand and squeezed it. He looked over at the lawyers in front of him and glared harshly at them. Everything that they had just stated as fact about Emily was ridiculous and untrue except for something had happened in Rome.

And how dare they bring up what happened in Rome! Did they even know the real story about what Emily had been through?

When their relationship started to become serious, Emily had come to his apartment one night and shakingly recounted for him what had happened in Rome. She had clearly been worried about his reaction to her past but said that she couldn't let their relationship go any further without telling him. If it was going to be an issue, she had explained that night, it was better for it to be then instead of an unpleasant surprise later.

It had not changed Hotch's feelings for her or the trajectory of their relationship though he found he needed to control the urge from the sudden overwhelming desire to protect her. However, he was glad that Emily had trusted him enough to share this difficult experience of her life with him.

And it did come up after they married twice. The first time was during the application process of her adoption of Jack which was how Mr Anders knew and why he was now looking at her with an empathetic and concerned look. The second time had been during her prenatal care with Natalie when the doctor asked for her medical history.

Neil Anders looked over at his clients, noticing the hard glare that Hotch was now sending the firm's lawyers after their judgemental comments and as far as he knew from representing Emily, false information about her. Either way their tone and comments were inappropriate and was causing him to wonder how innocent they really were in denying the Hotchners timely access to her inheritance.

Deciding to try to defuse what was quickly turning into a tense situation, Mr Anders stated, "regardless of Ambassador Prentiss' obviously skewed opinion of Mrs. Hotchner's 'lifestyle', that should not have affected the inheritance," he says using air quotes when he said lifestyle before glancing over to Mr Donovan who looked up from the copies of the wills in front of him and shook his head. "There were no stipulations to her receiving it other than being married before 30 isn't that correct?"

Mr Barton looked at Mr Anders and answered with irritation being clear in his voice. "I never said there was any other criteria other than her marriage."

Mr Donovan, who had mostly been a quiet observer until this point, placed both wills into a neat pile and folded his hands on top of them. He narrowed his gaze at the firm's lawyers as he said, "yet you displayed quite of bit of judgement based off of hearsay from the person who stood to gain substantially from Mr and Mrs Hotchner not receiving her inheritance."

He wasn't sure what exactly was going on having just been asked as his firm's probate expert to attend this meeting without first meeting his partner's clients. Mr Anders had quickly summarized the Hotchners for him on the drive. Regardless from the tone of the meeting, the attitude of the attorneys in front of them and the wills he had read through it was very clear to him that something fishy had happened. How fishy remained to be seen. He had already texted his assistant to get them on a judge's docket ASAP.

Hotch squeezed Emily's hand again before saying, "In our line of work that is called motive," while still glaring at the men in front of him.

"What type of work would that be Mr Hotchner?" Mr Barton asked dismissively.

Hotch turned his head slightly and made eye contact with Emily. He raised his brow slightly. She bit her lip, tilted her head and gave him a barely noticeable nod. Hotch gave her hand a squeeze. Turning back to the lawyers sitting on the other side of the table and from what he could see looked too smug for the situation. Still holding on to Emily's hand, he said confidently,

"Actually it is FBI Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, BAU."

The 3 lawyers turned pale as they realized who was sitting in front of them. An FBI agent would bring a lot more scrutiny on the error their firm had made. This wasn't the ignorant couple that they had expected. When they had verified earlier that Emily was indeed married to the man who was accompanying her, they had never expected her husband to be an FBI agent from the stories that the Ambassador had told them over the years about how Emily lived her life.

Taking in the stunned expression of the men sitting in front of him, Hotch smirked while gesturing towards his wife as he said, "please let me introduce you to my wife Supervisory Special Agent Emily Prentiss, also of the FBI's BAU."

"BAU?" Mr Stevens asked hesitantly, unable to keep the guilt out of his voice.

Hotch looked down and adjusted in his seat to sit up completely straight. Looking back up, he glared at the men in front of him as he answered, "Behavioral Analysis Unit. We're both profilers."

The color completely drained out of the faces of the three lawyers as they looked at Hotch and Emily with stunned looks on their faces. This is not at all what they had expected from this meeting.

Then Mr Barton looks up and makes eye contact with his 2 colleagues. Then all 3 make eye contact with Hotch. Hotch returned their looks with a death glare. The 3 lawyers glance back to each other with a look of recognition and fear.

They were now placing where they had heard about an FBI profiler named Hotchner. They along with most of the legal community in Virginia had been paying close attention to the Brian Matloff trial a couple of years earlier. Judicial decisions based off the unique specifics of the case such as the years long coma of the serial killer and the complete amnesia when he woke up had to potential to change precedent for other defendants.

What had also buzzed around the legal community was what had happened during the defense attorney's cross examination. The defense attorney had questioned all the way through about the validity of profiling. Just as the cross examination was ending, the defense attorney had foolishly given the profiler on the stand an opening to profile him which Hotch had taken full advantage. Over the next couple of minutes, Hotch had profiled in open court the defense attorney revealing several embarrassing facts that the defense attorney couldn't refute.

And that had been for questioning the validity of his professional field. The three of them had just insulted his wife who everyone could clearly see he adored. They had also failed in their duty to give her timely access to her inheritance. They were so screwed. And then their glances turned to Emily Hotchner who was a profiler in her own right. Doubly screwed.

Before anyone could break the tense silence in the room there was a knock on the door. Mr Stevens stood up and walked over to the door. After opening it, he spoke to the person on the other side in a low voice so that no one in the room could hear what was being said. After a couple of minutes, he returned to the room followed by a woman in her 30s who was carrying several files. She was followed by a younger man who was carrying 2 boxes.

Mr Stevens said gesturing to the two new people beside him, "This is Sarah Hill, one of the firm's associates and this is Noah Wilkins, her assistant. They are prepared go over Sebastian Prentiss' will with all of you and hand over the items we are holding." When he finished, Emily and Hotch both stood up to shake hands with the newcomers who also greeted and introduced themselves to the Hotchners' attorneys.

As the greetings were happening, Hotch noticed that Mr. Tate, Mr Stevens and Mr Barton quietly slipped out of the office. He shook his head promising himself that he would deal with them later.

As they all sat down at the table to get started, Ms Hill looked at the side of the table where the attorney's had been sitting, looking momentarily stunned that they were no longer there.

"Is there a problem Ms Hill?" Mr Donovan asked concerned. She shook her head bluntly before answered, "No no problems. Noah, could you hand me the top box?" After taking the top box from him, Ms Hill handed him several files that he took and walked around the table handing out.

After Noah returned to his seat, she said looking around the table, "Ok, let's get started. If you open the file and look at page 1, I have highlighted…."

 **AN: Brian Matloff was a character in episode 3.19(Tabula Rasa)**

 **I plan to upload chapter 5 on Monday.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the positive feedback on this story.  
**

 **CHAPTER 5**

Emily closed the file in front of her as they finished reviewing her father's will. She had been both shocked and surprised by several items in her inheritance.

First surprise was that she had had a college fund. Her father had designated money that she could have started to access when she turned 18 for school related expenses that she hadn't known existed. Her mother had paid for her first semester at Georgetown however there had been so many strings attached to the money that Emily refused to ask her for later semesters. Little did she know that the money her mother had used to try and manipulate her was actually her's all along.

Emily had already earned an academic scholarship which paid for most of tuition. For other expenses after that, Emily moved off campus to live with 2 roommates to save money. She had 2 to 3 jobs at a time. There were several external scholarships that helped to make up the difference. Emily had also been forced to take out student loans to make ends meet.

When Emily went to grad school at Yale, she was chosen as a teaching assistant which paid her tuition and gave her a small stipend. In addition to that, she worked. Again she had needed to take out loans to cover her living expenses. Loans that she was still in the process of paying off. Loans that she would have never needed if she knew about this part of her inheritance.

The second surprise was that she also had money that she could have accessed to pay for wedding expenses. In all likelihood, she wouldn't have used that even if she had known about it.

Their wedding had been a small intimate gathering of the team and a few friends that took place in the garden at Dave's house, err mansion. Dave had gone out of his way to assure that it was exactly what her and Aaron had wanted. More money would not have made it a more memorable day. And Dave would have been insulted if she had tried to pay for any of it as he considered the day his gift to them.

As Emily was thinking back about their wedding day, she noticed that Aaron had taken her hand and was squeezing it. She looked up and noticed that Mr Anders and Mr Donovan were standing at the other end of the table looking at her concerned. Ms Hill and Mr Wilkins had already left the room. Apparently they had been trying to get her attention for a couple of minutes.

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" Emily said distracted.

"It's fine Emily." Mr Anders said.

"I know a significant amount of surprises have come up today Mrs Hotchner. I already have my assistant working on scheduling us a place on a judge's docket to have your claim on the inheritance from your father solidified and work on reclaiming your inheritance from your grandfather. I will let you know as soon as I hear when we are scheduled." said Mr Donovan.

Emily nodded before saying. "Thanks you both for being here. I wasn't expecting all of this when we walked in here today." She stood up and walked over to shake hands with both of the lawyers before stopping next to Hotch.

"We are here to support both of you." Mr Anders said while Mr Donovan nodded behind him.

Mr Donovan walked up next to Mr Anders before saying with his attention towards Emily, "I need you to think about what you want to do about Mr Sinclair living in the house before we go to court. If you want to evict him, we will need to start that process when we're in front of the judge." Emily shook her head because as much as she hated the man, she wasn't sure if she wanted to evict him.

The third surprise was she owned the house that the family lived in while she was growing up when they were in DC. It was also the house that her mother and stepfather had been living in for years.

They had told her she was no longer welcome at the house when she was in college and had refused to given in to their demands on how they wanted her to live her life. She had not be allowed to set foot in the house since she started at the FBI academy.

"I don't know what I want to do about it. I haven't lived there at all since high school and even then it was only school breaks… and with the memories...," Emily trailed off before sighing, "I can't see myself ever living there again. Also Aaron and I have a house that works well for our family." Emily rambled with uncertainty. Hotch put his arm around her shoulders and move over closer to her.

Mr Anders and Mr Donovan nodded, understanding her mindset. Mr Donovan continued, "whatever you decide is fine. We will just need to clarify it when we go to court. Also in addition to the house itself, you were given all of the furnishings as well. So if you decide to gift or sell the house to Mr Sinclair, you will need to decide what you want to do about that part of your inheritance."

"Also, if there is any paperwork in the safety deposit box, I would like to see it." Mr Anders added.

One of the items that Ms Hill had given her was a key to a safety deposit box along with a letter from the law firm that Emily could access it at the bank that her family had all their accounts. Ms Hill hadn't been able to tell her what was in the box as there was no inventory in the file. The only insight she was able to give concerning the safety deposit box was that her father left strict instructions that only she could access it and that the Ambassador had used her position as trustee several times over the years to gain access without success.

"Of course. I'm planning to stop at the bank soon. I'll let you know once I've been there." Emily stated before she turned to pick her purse up from the table so they could leave. Hotch picked up the boxes that they would be taking home.

As they started to walk towards the door, there was a knock and when the door opened, they saw Noah Wilkins. He walked into the room and closed the door behind him. As soon as the door closed, he said hesitantly, "Mrs Hotchner, Mr Barton asked me to bring you this letter. As you know he can't disburse your mother's estate yet however since a letter was all she left for you, he concluded you should have it now."

"Thank you Mr Wilkins." Emily said as she took the letter and placed it into one of the boxes that Aaron was holding. Mr Wilkins nodded and walked back out the door followed by Mr Donovan. Hotch was right next to Emily as they walked out the door next with Mr Anders behind them. Mr Wilkins turned down the first hallway while the rest continued down the hallway.

As the group walked towards the exit, they heard angry voices coming from another office. As they walked closer they noticed Mr Tate's name on the door. The voices were distinctively those of the three firm lawyers and Emily's stepfather.

When she realized that they were talking about her, Emily stopped just out of sight from the office. Aaron and their attorneys also stopped, standing with her.

"What do you mean you aren't going to read the will today? I demand we get this done. And what is this nonsense about going to court?" Mr Sinclair could be heard yelling and a thud was heard of him banging his fist.

"We can not distribute Elizabeth's estate until we have settled the estate of Edward Breckenridge. Elizabeth repeatedly lied to us about Emily's marital status. That is why this is happening now." Mr Barton's voice was heard replying tersely.

"Her lawyer has already been working to get the case on a docket. I would expect the case to be in court this week." Mr Stevens stated annoyed.

They could see the shadow of Mr Sinclair pacing in the office before he stated angrily. "I hope you are ready to fight this for me. Edward will be rolling over in his grave if you let a _Fairfax_ get access to his money."

Emily could feel Hotch stiffen beside her. Fairfax had been his mother's maiden name. She turned and saw him staring intently at the office door where the men were meeting. She placed a hand on his arm and before she could say anything, they could hear the men continue.

"We know of the family feud however our hands are tied. We can't deny them the inheritance because Edward did not put it in writing as an exclusion criteria." Mr Tate stated empathically.

"This firm will not be representing you in this lawsuit." Mr Stevens stated firmly.

There was a pause before Mr Sinclair yelled loudly, "Why the hell not?"

"We are compromised and also culpable as we were trustees of Emily's trust fund from his will. Elizabeth should have come to us with her concerns instead of lying to us. We can't represent either party in this case." Mr Barton replied sternly.

Mr Sinclair sighed loudly before saying forcefully, "I don't see what the problem is- they aren't even truly married."

Out in the hallway, Emily gasped while tightening her grip on Aaron's arm. She looked back at their attorneys who had serious yet curious looks on their faces as they also listened to the conversation. When he noticed Emily's look, Mr Anders gave Emily a small smile as he shook his head at her. Before he could say anything they heard Mr Barton's booming voice, "What are you talking about? Yes they are married. We have a copy of the marriage license right here." As he finished they heard a bang.

They could see the reflection of Mr Sinclair pacing in the office again. Then he was heard stating calmly and slowly as if he was explaining a complex topic to a small child, "They didn't get married in the Church so they aren't truly married. Their ceremony was in someone's backyard. Does that sound like a real wedding to you?"

At this point, Emily was furious. How dare he insult their wedding!

As she started to move forward towards the office, she could feel an arm come around her waist. As she turned around to confront whoever had just stopped her she felt herself being pulled back against Aaron. A quick look at him showed a firm glare directed to the office.

"That is irrelevant. Fact is they are legally married and in this case that is all that matter." Mr Stevens stated.

"Both Sebastian Prentiss and Edward Breckenridge only stated that Emily must be legally married. There is no mention of matrimony or a religious ceremony or blessing." Mr Barton continued.

"This is ridiculous. She wasn't even their real daughter." Mr Sinclair yelled.

Emily gasped at this and struggled to pull herself away from husband's hold.

"Again it's irrelevant to this case. They both mentioned her by name in their wills. And she is their daughter legally." Mr Stevens stated as he shook his head at the man standing in front of him.

"What do you mean I wasn't their real daughter?" Emily asked. The 4 men quickly turned to see her standing in the open doorway of the office with Hotch standing right behind her glaring at the men in front of them.

 **AN: The confrontation will happen in the next chapter. I plan to have that upload mid to late week.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: To address a question I've gotten- Hotch and Emily are not going to discover that that they are related. That isn't the direction I'm going with this story. There will be a change in a relationship but it won't be between the two of them.**

 **For the chapter below, I'm adding a TW for emotional abuse and mentions about the past death of a child. Please be cautious with this chapter if these are triggers for you.**

 **C** **HAPTER 6**

Hotch closed the door to his bedroom and walked down the hall and back down the stairs, deciding to let Emily rest until the team started to arrive. It had been an emotional and stressful day for her with the funeral in the morning and the planned will reading turned surprises turned startling revelations in the afternoon. And based on how events unfolded at the lawyer's office, the stress of interacting with Emily's stepfather wasn't going to end today as they had been expecting.

Looking at the clock he realized that the team would be over in the next 15 minutes and they were bringing dinner. Will was stopping over at his and JJ's house to pick up all 4 kids before coming over.

In the lawyers' office after Emily had made their presence known things had gone from bad to worse.

 **####**

 _2 hours earlier-_

"What do you mean I wasn't their real daughter?" Emily asked. The 4 men quickly turned to see her standing in the open doorway of the office with Hotch standing right behind her glaring at the 4 men in front of them.

The firm's lawyers who earlier had slipped out of the room to avoid Hotch's wrath had just come face to face with him again. And he appeared angrier than he was earlier. Not that surprising depending on how much they had just heard.

"I'm sorry Mrs Hotchner but this is a private meeting." Mr Tate said sternly as he stood up and walked a couple of steps towards the door. Hotch seeing his movement moved up to standing next to Emily instead of behind her which halted Mr Tate's motion towards her.

"If this was a private meeting, why was door open so that _anyone_ walking in the halls of this office could hear what was being said?" Emily replied back bitterly.

"Our staff knows not to eavesdrop, Mrs Hotchner." Mr Barton said as he stood up yet did not move.

"Mr Hotchner, Mrs Hotchner, as we have mentioned, this is a private meeting. My understanding is that the business you had with this office today has been completed. I'm going to ask you to leave or we'll have you escorted out." Mr Tate stated, resting his hands on his desk.

"We are not going anywhere until you answer my wife's question." Hotch replied while crossing his arm in front of him.

The three lawyers looked at each other uncertain how to proceed. Emily Hotchner was not suppose to overhear that conversation. All of them knew that she had been adopted from representing her father and conversation with her mother over the years. However, it wasn't known to them until now that she had no idea of this fact.

As Hotch and Emily looked on at the unspoken conversation and uncertain looks from the lawyers, it was hard to miss the smirk and the evil glint in the eye of Emily's stepfather. It was a glint that both of them knew well from their work having seen it many times from their suspects.

"So Emily _dear_ it looks like the moment of truth has finally come. I can't tell you how _thrilled_ I am to be the one to burst your bubble," said Mr Sinclair as walk so he was standing about 6 feet in front of her. He stopped and crossed his arms in front of him as he stared at her.

"What did you mean by I wasn't their real daughter?" Emily asked again looking away from him and towards the firm's lawyers who were over in a corner of the room, still looking unsure about how they wanted to proceed. Hotch moved up and stood next to her his hand on the small of her back. Mr Donovan and Mr Anders had also moved into the room and shut the door behind them.

Mr Sinclair chuckled bitterly drawing Emily's attention back to him. "For someone suppose to be so smart, you haven't figured it out? The Prentiss' weren't your parents. Elizabeth never wanted you. You were just some unwanted baby that Sebastian Prentiss found and brought home."

Emily stood there in shock. Before long she was pulled out of her thought by Mr Barton. "Mrs Hotchner, it is true that you were adopted. Privately. But all the paperwork was in order so the Ambassador did agree to it at one point. Legally you are their daughter."

"No she didn't." Mr Sinclair shouted towards the lawyers, his face red.

Mr Barton said firmly, "Mr Sinclair, she did. Our firm did not handle the adoption however I personally saw the adoption papers. Elizabeth's signature was on them."

"Even in a private closed adoption there was an application process they both would have needed to contribute information towards. The paperwork would need to be signed off by the social worker who did the home visits and the judge who would issue the final decree." Mr Stevens said. Hotch and Emily both nodded at his words remembering how involved the process was when Emily adopted Jack.

"Quite honestly, Mr Sinclair, what you and Elizabeth say on this topic has little weight with us right now considering all the lies that have been brought to light today." Mr Barton continued.

"Lies. What in the hell are you talking about?" Mr Sinclair yelled

"Well, we can start with that Emily wasn't married when she unquestionably has been for over 2 years." groused Mr. Barton.

"Everything about how she is living her life." Mr Stevens said.

Mr Barton moved around the desk and looked directly at Mr Sinclair before saying, "What we have been fed for years that she never attended college past the first semester. And you want to know _how_ we know that is a lie. Because she is a FBI agent and no one can even be _accepted_ into the FBI academy without a Bachelor's degree. And given her age and department, I'd even venture a guess that she has at least one advanced degree as well." Emily let out a breath she had been holding and then nodded as Mr Barton spoke. Hotch was also nodding as she stood next to Emily.

Mr Sinclair narrowed his eyes at the lawyer before spitting out, "As far as we knew, she didn't attend college beyond that. She never asked for money after that semester."

"Yes you did know that I was an FBI agent. I never asked for money again because there were so many strings attached to it." Emily responded angrily.

Mr Barton returned his gaze to Mr Sinclair and he said firmly, "There never should have been strings attached to that money from anyone. The only restriction Sebastian placed on the college fund was that it be used for expenses related to your education."

Emily shook her head before saying, "I didn't know that. I didn't know my …. um… my father had left me a college fund until today. If I did, I wouldn't still be paying off loans." hesitating slightly when she said 'father'.

"Mrs Hotchner, if you provide us with the paperwork we will make sure the loans are taken care of." Mr Barton said.

Hotch turned his glare back to the men in front of him. "No, I think your firm has done enough concerning my wife's trust funds. We will take care of the loans."

Truth be told, he was furious particularly about the loans since they discovered that Emily had a college fund. In the time he had known Emily, he knew that making sure that she could keep up with the payments of her loans weighed heavily on her. It had been a factor in every milestone decision of their relationship from moving in together to whether they should get married to when to have a baby to Emily's decision to return from maternity leave earlier than Hotch wanted.

Now that she had access to her college fund, he was hoping that Emily would be agreeable to paying them off right away. Though Hotch also knew that Emily was proud that she had put herself through school without having to rely on her family. They would have to talk about it when it was just the two of them.

Mr Anders, who had been quietly observing until this point asked, "Mr Barton, where are the adoption papers now?" As the attorney for the Hotchners, he wanted to see the legal document for himself and Mr Barton had mentioned that he had seen them. From the interactions so far that day, he wasn't willing to take the word of Mr Barton that they were in order.

Mr Barton looked at him and shook his head. "I don't know. Sebastian showed them to me and then took them with him when he left that day. We can check his file to see if a copy was made at a later time but I did not make one that day." As he was speaking, he turned and looked at Mr Stevens and Mr Tate both of whom also shook their heads.

Mr Tate continued, "the Ambassador ask about them years ago when the trusts were being set up after his death. They weren't in the file then. She was annoyed and anxious to get access to them."

Mr Sinclair looked at him and yelled while waving his hands, "of course she was anxious to have them. The papers would have proved that she didn't agree to the adoption."

Emily looked at him in shock and started to play with her hands which were together in front of her. She shook her head before blurting out, "What? What do you mean?"

Mr Sinclair then narrowed his eyes while still looking at Emily and spat out at her. "Elizabeth never wanted you. She just wanted Zachary, her real child. But Sebastian never gave her a choice. He just came home with you one day like someone would with a puppy."

"Mr Sinclair, that's enough." Mr Barton stated loudly, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

Mr Sinclair glared at him and then broke eye contact as he started to pace on the opposite side of the room. Then he looked at Emily with a smug look on his face. He stopped as he continued. "No it's really not. Emily wanted to insert herself into our conversation. She asked what I meant. So she's going to hear it.

Only a small number of family and staff knew you were adopted. Sebastian made sure that it wasn't known publicly. They were just returning from an overseas posting so there were vey few questions when he arrived with a young infant at Thanksgiving. He just let people assume that you were born before they returned home.

Then he died and she was stuck with raising you. A child who defied her at every turn. She wanted to return you however without the proof that you were adopted, she was advised that it would adversely affect her diplomatic career that was just starting to get off the ground."

Emily gasped and her body stiffened when he mentioned the Ambassador had wanted to return her. However it did not surprise Emily that her mother had prioritized her diplomatic reputation. Without thinking, she just blurted out a question that had been in the back of her head for most of her life, "why did she hate me so much?"

She watch as Mr Sinclair's eyes narrowed and his jaw set before he said, "She loved Zachary very much and because of you, he died."

Emily looked at him in shock, not understanding how her brother's untimely death could be seen as having been her fault. "What are you talking about? I was only 3 when he died. I wasn't even in the car when the accident happened."

Mr Sinclair barked at her. "Exactly. You weren't there that day because you had a temper tantrum that morning…"

Emily interrupted and stated forcefully. "No, it wasn't a temper tantrum. I was sick. Sick enough that I was in the hospital when they had his funeral."

Even at 3, Emily remember that morning. She woke up not feeling well and was fussy at breakfast because her mother was rushing her. When her dad came in for breakfast and her mother reported Emily misbehavior, he had picked her up and carried her to her room. After putting her down, he chastised her and then stopped as he pushed her hair off her tear stained cheeks. He then walked out of the room and her nanny came in and help Emily back into bed after giving her medicine.

A short time later, he brother had come into her room and gave her one of his favorite stuffed animals, a bunny, to help her feel better. It was the last time she saw him.

Mr Sinclair stood straight up and continued, ignoring what Emily had just said, "you had had a temper tantrum that morning and Sebastian said you could stay home." He said, rolling his eyes, "When the driver went to pick him up from school, he placed Zachary in your seat. If you would have been there like you were suppose to be, he would have been on the opposite side of the car and would have been unharmed..."

As her stepfather was talking, Emily realized the dark path he was following as she interrupted now knowing why he had said it was her fault "... and I would have been killed instead."

Mr Sinclair looked her right in the eyes and with a evil glint in his eye gave a curt, "Exactly."

There were several gasps throughout the room as he said that. The tension quickly rose in the room. The firm attorneys keep looking at each other, not sure how to handle the current situation. They had represented the family for years but they were not at all comfortable with what Mr Sinclair just said.

Hotch could feel Emily leaning into him. When he broke his glare to Mr Sinclair, he looked down at her and she was just looking straight ahead. Deciding that they had heard enough, Hotch put her arm around Emily's shoulders and announced, "we're leaving." With that he turned Emily, who gave little resistance, around and they started to walk towards the door.

Mr Sinclair stepped towards them and yelled, "We're not done here yet, Fairfax."

Hotch turned and responded sharply, "Yes we are," before he continued walking out of the office with Emily, ignoring what Mr Sinclair was yelling at them.

As Mr Sinclair started to walk after them, the firm's lawyers moved to stand between him and the door, not letting him pass. Mr Anders and Mr Donovan, seeing that he temporarily couldn't follow walked after Hotch and Emily. Mr Anders picked the boxes they were taking home and carried it out to Hotch's car.

Hotch opened Emily door and after she was settled in her seat, he closed the door and walked over to where Mr Anders and Mr Donovan were standing at the trunk of the car. He thanked them from the box and placed it in the trunk. Before they could walk away he said firmly, "Evict him."

The two lawyers nodded. The three men shook hands and Hotch entered the car and the other 2 walked to their car.

 **####**

It was almost time for the team to arrive. Dave had sent him a message that they were leaving the office to head over.

He started to head towards the stairs, having promised Emily he would wake her when the team was on the way.

It had been the only thing she had said to him after they drove away from the lawyers' office. She was being unusually quiet and he hated it. There was so much that happened that he knew she needed time to process. To make sense of all the pieces that had been thrown at her today. However, he had come to expect that she would include him.

Over the course of their relationship, he thought he had broken through all of her walls. Generally, she had no problem expressing to him what she thought on a topic or how she was feeling, even if it was to vent. He had come to expect it. But now, he had no idea where her head was, what she was thinking. It was frustrating.

 **AN: Next chapter early next week.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Thanks so much for feedback on this story. I would like to answer some of the questions I received on the last chapter.**

 **Hotly4ever: I think there was a delay with the comment showing up as i didn't see it until yesterday. The adoption papers will make an appearance but with them comes some twists and turns.**

 **Guest: It will be someone on the team. There will be some clues in the coming chapters.**

 **Sazzita: In a later chapter, there will be some context to what was going on around Emily's adoption. It won't be an excuse for the Ambassador behavior because there is no excuse but a few more pieces to the puzzle.**

 **rmpcmfan: Thanks for all your comments. They will all stay by her side. Can't guarantee there won't be any more bad surprises.**

 **Geraldfan: Sinclair will mostly be a thorn going forward. There will be a period of adjustment as both parties dealing with the revelation and fall out but they will be OK.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **CHAPTER 7**

Hotch quietly opened the door to Jack's room and walked into the room. Emily was sitting in a chair holding Jack with her eyes closed. The only indication that she was awake was the she was continuing to slowly rock the chair.

Throughout the evening, Emily had been unusually quiet, spending most of the time with the kids. Jack seemed to sense something was bothering her and alternated between playing with Henry and cuddling with his mom. When it was bedtime, he had asked for Emily to put him to bed when usually he wanted his dad whenever Hotch was home in the evening.

It hadn't taken the team long to deduct that something had happened with Emily after the funeral. While always attentive to the kids, she generally wasn't clingy with them. Throughout the evening, each of them send Hotch concerned looks which he had just shook his head. It wasn't his story to tell.

After Emily had taken Jack up to bed, he had addressed the elephant in the room. He only confirmed that something had happened and to give Emily a few days to process it. They all nodded, knowing that their brunette friend wouldn't talk until she was ready. Everyone left shortly afterwards, making Hotch promise to call if either of them needed anything.

As he walked closer to the chair, Hotch could see Jack sleeping under his blue fleece Shrek throw blanket cuddled up to Emily. Hotch turned the covers down on the bed before turning back and tapping Emily on the shoulder. Her eyes popped open and she looked up at him.

"I'm going to put him in his bed." he said as he leaned to pick Jack up.

"Please not yet Aaron." Emily whispered tightening her hold on the sleeping child. Hotch stood back up and gave her a pointed look. "Em, he needs to be in his bed. And after today, you need to get some sleep too." He kneel down in front of her and placed his hand over one of hers before says quietly. "There is still the whole weekend for you to spend time with him Em." He wasn't at all surprised after what the learned today that Emily was overcompensating with her own adopted child.

Emily sighed and nodded as she loosened her hold on Jack so Hotch could pick him up to place on his bed. After covering Jack up with his comforter and placing a kiss on his forehead, Hotch held out his hands waiting for Emily to take it.

After Emily stood up, he pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. He placed his arm around her shoulders as they walked out of Jack's room, pulling the door closed behind him.

As they walked towards their room, Hotch said, "OK beautiful, I'm going to start a bath for us before bed."

Emily stopped suddenly outside of Natalie's room. "I should check on her" she said as she reached for the door handle.

Hotch sighed before coming up behind her. He placed his hand over hers before she could open the door and said softly, "I checked on Natalie before I came into Jack's room and she is sound asleep." Emily stopped and rested her head on the door before nodding. "OK." Then she turned back and they continued to walk into their room.

After they crossed the threshold of their bedroom, Hotch turned and closed the door. Walking into the bathroom, he started the water in the large spa bathtub they had both fallen in love with when they toured the house before buying it.

As the water level rose, Hotch poured in some lavender bath salts, knowing Emily found this scent comforting and would help her relax so she could sleep. He turned after putting the bath salts away to find Emily still had not entered the bathroom. Frowning, he turned and walked into the bedroom to find Emily sitting on the side of the bed looking at the floor.

He walked over and stopped a few feet in front of her before saying, "Em, the bath is almost ready."

She looked up and gave him a sad smile and a nod before standing up and walking into the bathroom with him.

As they entered the bathroom, Hotch walked over and turned off the water before turning his attention back to his wife. He walked back over to her and started to undress her before holding her hand as she stepped into the tub.

Once Emily was settled in the tub, Hotch undressed himself before slipping into the tub in his spot behind her. Moving her hair off her shoulders, Hotch started to massage her shoulders before working down her arms before focusing on both her hands.

As much as wanted to make love to her as they did more times than not when they were in the tub together, he knew with how Emily was feeling it wasn't what she needed or wanted at the moment. Right now he knew that she was feeling sad and vulnerable and what she needed was closeness and affection more than anything.

As the water cooled, Hotch stood up and stepped out of the tub and wrapped an oversized plush towels around his waist. Holding out a hand, he helped steady Emily as she stepped out of the tub. After wrapping her in a towel, he squirted her favorite rose scented lotion onto his hands and started to work it into her arms and legs.

As he was working it into her legs, Hotch could feel Emily running her fingers through his hair. When he finished her feet, he looked up at her and she gave him a small smile, "Thank you for taking care of me, Aaron."

After standing up, he pulled her up to stand in front of him, "No need to thank me sweetheart. I'm here for whatever you need. Let's get some sleep. It's been a long day."

Hotch walked with her into the bedroom and pulled back the comforter on the bed. After taking her towel, he went back into the bathroom to hang it up along with his. As he reentered the bedroom, he saw that Emily was already settled in their bed. He turned off the room light before walking over and climbed into bed next to her.

As he settled into a comfortable position on his back, he felt Emily move closer. She placed her head on his chest over his heart, her arm over his abdomen and a leg over his. Unfortunately, as much as he tried to fight it, his body had recognized that the soft naked body of his wife was curled up next to his and started to react.

He inwardly groaned and started to run through sports stats with only some success. It wasn't surprising though with Emily lying almost on top of him. He knew if she felt his arousal that she would feel compelled to have sex.

He knew from experience that that wasn't going to help either of them feel better. He had discovered that during a horrible experience early in their relationship that when she was feeling vulnerable, he could not initiate sex.

It had been after a rough case, especially for the women of the team. On the way home, Emily had been staying close to him. Because of the hour, the team went straight home with plans to do the paperwork the next day. When they arrived at her apartment, they went to bed.

As she cuddled up next to him, he began to kiss her and she didn't stop him as he had come to expect if she wasn't in the mood. Generally if she wasn't in the mood or the timing was wrong, she would just tell him. However he quickly learned that when she was feeling vulnerable, she would go along with it regardless of how she was feeling.

As they continued, sensing that Emily wasn't getting as turned on as he expected, Hotch upped his efforts. He wanted to help her forget what she had seen over the last few days, even for a short period of time. However 10 minutes later, Emily was a sobbing mess and Hotch was upset and frustrated.

Once they were able to calm down they talked about what happened. Emily had just wanted to be close to Hotch. She hadn't really wanted to have sex. However she hadn't wanted him to pull away and leave her alone as previous boyfriends had done so she had gone along with what she thought he wanted. And then she felt that she was failing yet again because she hadn't even been able to give him what he was indicating to her that he needed.

Hotch was horrified that Emily had felt pressured into having sex with him. He had wanted to help her feel better but as it turned out she was feeling worse. He had reassured her that he wasn't going to walk away from her when she needed him. He had made her promise to be honest with him in the future because he never wanted her to feel pressured especially when it came to sex.

A small shake through Emily's body brought him back to the present. Tightening his hug around her, he felt a second shake followed by a sob. The tears he felt on his chest were an immediate bucket of cold water to his libido. In a heartbeat the arousal that he had been fighting since she cuddled up next to him was gone having finally gotten the message that it wasn't needed or wanted.

Hotch pulled Emily closer and completely on top of him, rubbing her back and whispering reassurances as she cried.

He had known she was going to need to decompress at some point from the emotional angst that all the revelations that the day had brought. Hopefully soon, she would open up and talk to him, even if it was to vent. He hated that she had curled into herself.

After holding her for he didn't know how long, Hotch could feel her body relax and from the rhythmic breathing, that she had cried herself to sleep.

Wrapping his arms around her, Hotch closed his eyes and allowed sleep to pull him under.

 **Next chapter before the end of the week.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: To answer a comment- the Doyle storyline doesn't occur in this story. Neither does Emily's background with the CIA, Interpol or JTF-12.**

 **Also in this story Strauss is OOC. She is supportive of the team and fair with them. There will be antagonist that is an Assistant Director who will come up in a couple of chapters. For how I wanted this story to flow, I wanted to have a supportive buffer between the 2.**

 **CHAPTER 8**

It was Wednesday and Emily was back at work in her office at the BAU. Being able to slip into the familiar role of Agent Prentiss was reassuring for her after the angst and turmoil in her personal life the previous week.

After a quiet weekend at home with the kids, Hotch and Emily met with the team at Dave's on Sunday afternoon so everyone could update them on what had been done at the BAU in their absence. They had heard very little the entire week they were out of the office. Strauss and Dave had assured that neither of them were bothered by any issues that came up.

Strauss had called the day after the DSS agents visited to offer her condolences. She had told them that they had both been given bereavement leave and if they needed more than those days, she would apply some of their copious amount of personal days. She had also attended the funeral along with the team.

Dave had checked in with Hotch every day. He had refused to tell him anything about work other than the team had things under control and the new agents on Emily's team were being taken care of.

However with them returning the following day, they needed to know what they were walking into. Thankfully it had been a calm week in the office or at least as calm as the BAU could get.

The work the team had done was amazing and it had made walking into each of their respective offices easier the next day.

For Emily, her inbox had mostly been empty except for administrative items that she personally needed to handle. Her email was another story altogether and it taken most of Monday and Tuesday to get through the messages.

After meeting her new agents on Monday, she had sat down with both of them together and individually each day. She had been relieved that JJ had given both of them one of her orientation packs and had started both of them on the skills worksheet and flowsheet Emily had designed when she became in charge of this team.

As grateful as she was to them for what they did the previous week, Emily found she was avoiding Hotch's team. With them, she was closer to being Emily instead of Agent Prentiss. With her current head space, she really needed Agent Prentiss in control at the office.

Emily was processing way too much emotional baggage from the events of the previous couple of weeks. Baggage that did not need to come up in the office. Had no place in the office because it would distract her from doing her job.

And she knew that the team of profilers would be worried about her since they knew something had happened the day of the funeral. They would try to get her to talk about it. And right now, she wasn't talking much about it to anyone.

Unfortunately, until that morning, it had still included Aaron. She had felt herself pulling away from him since the lawyers' office the previous week. And as much as knew she was doing it she couldn't seem to stop herself and she hated it.

To his credit, Aaron had been her rock. He had been there for her without asking for more than she was able to give. However, over the last couple of days, she could feel his frustration building at her inability to talk to him about what they learned that day and how she was feeling.

She knew that she needed to talk to him, wanted to talk to him. But she hadn't know where to start. Talking about her feelings hadn't been encouraged or welcomed when she was growing up. It wasn't until she joined the team that she found that there were people that were truly interested in her feelings. However, so many heavy revelations had been thrown at her in a short period of time that she felt conflicted.

But she had realized that she wasn't going to be able to make sense of it herself. She needed Aaron's help.

In the car on the way into the office, she started to open up to him.

"I'm sorry, Aaron." Emily said quietly as they entered the FBI garage.

Hotch froze for a second at a stop sign before continuing through the garage. He had no idea where her head was after last week.

What was she sorry for? All the sudden he was worried about where this conversation was going. Was it for how things had been between them for the last few days or was she going to say something she knew he wouldn't want to hear?

He didn't want to ask but needed to know. He decided to calmly ask a neutral question, "Sorry for what, sweetheart?"

Emily took a deep breath and while still looking down she said, "For not talking through everything that happened last week with you."

As she said that, he pulled into a parking spot on the lower level. They always parked in this area because it was generally empty at this time of morning. They could always find a spot in the same place which removed the guesswork about where they parked whether it was that evening or several days later. This morning the lack of traffic around them was a godsend. They needed to have this private and overdue conversation without an audience.

Aaron sighed in relief as he put the car in park and turned it off before turning to her. Noticing that she was immensely interested in her grey suit jacket at the moment, Hotch reached over and hooked a finger under her chin before gently easing it up until she was looking at him. When her gaze focused on him, he smiled back at her and said calmly, "You don't need to apologize, Em."

Though inside, he was anything but calm. He was excited and relieved that his wife was opening up to him. The only current downsides were their location and timing.

Emily closed her eyes and shook her head. Opening her eyes and looking at him, she said, "I do. And I know you are upset with me about it." She mumbled out the last part and then looked away from him.

Hotch sighed, suddenly angry with himself. He hadn't meant to pressure Emily to talk to him. However, as the days had gone by, he could feel the anxiety rise. This had been the longest that Emily had been processing something on her own since their relationship had become serious. It had been killing him inside to see her walking around in a fog the last few days and not being able to help her.

Hotch sighed and turned in his seat to face his wife. He reached over and pulled her towards him until her head was resting on his chest. It was a slightly uncomfortable position in the car however, he wanted this closeness. And given how Emily was snuggling up next to him, she was OK with their position for this talk too.

He kissed the top of her head and moved his hand up and down her right arm as he said softly. "I'm not upset with you, per se. I'm frustrated that you are upset and you weren't talking to me. And based on what we heard last week, I'd worry if you weren't upset. I want to help but you've been shutting me out. I've been trying to give you your space and not hover."

"Thank you." Emily said quietly while cuddling closer to her husband. She hadn't realized until this moment how much what they had learned the previous week had affected him. Suddenly she regretted not talking to him sooner. He needed to process what they had been told as well.

"Are you ready to talk?" Hotch asked hesitantly. He didn't want Emily feel pressured however it felt the right time to test the waters.

"Now?" Emily asked confusedly, looking at their surroundings.

Hotch sighed and looked at the time on the car clock. While rubbing his hand up and down her arm, he shook his head and answered, "probably not. We should both go inside. How about tonight? We get the kids to bed and then sit down with a bottle of wine. I want to know how you are feeling." He sat back in his seat to look at her face, his hand now cupping her elbow. He was taking in her facial expressions, carefully watching the range of emotions that were passing through her eyes.

After what seemed like hours however was only a few seconds, Emily looked at him and nodded slowly. "Tonight." Then she looked down and started to fiddle with her fingers anxiously before continuing quietly, " I don't know how I'm feeling. That is most of the reason I wasn't saying anything." She paused and sighed before continuing. "I don't even know where to start. It is all so overwhelming." She stops still looking down, unsure of what else to say.

Hotch looked at her concerned. Right now he wanted nothing more than to drive the car back out of the garage and head home. He hated to see Emily this upset and appearing so… lost. He hadn't wanted to pressure her to talk over the last week however now he was wondering if he should have encouraged her before today to talk to him. Clearly everything that she had been holding inside was eating her up.

"Em, sweetheart." He said and waited for her to make eye contact before he continued, "we don't need to cover everything at once. We probably shouldn't even try. You'll get through this and I'll be there with you every step of the way. Just remember you're not alone."

Before either of them could say anything else, their phones both beeped. They both groaned as they took out their respective phones and looked at the message they both had received about a unfolding prison break in the Midwest. They were both now expected at a briefing in 20 minutes.

Emily turned to look out the windshield and took a few deep breaths. Hotch saw this and sat back and away from her, knowing she was trying to put a lid back on her box of emotions that they had unexpectedly lifted the edge of that morning. As he saw her steady her breathing and lean back in the seat with her eyes closed and then opening, Hotch asked, "you ready?"

They both knew that as soon as the car door opened, they were SSA Hotchner and SSA Prentiss. They had established strict rules for themselves in the separation of their personal and professional roles. The car was their transition space. He needed to make sure she was ready before they went to their respective teams.

Emily glanced over at him and gave a curt nod, "let's do this" as she picked up her purse at her feet. She had been the first one to open the door.

Now it was later in the morning. Sitting at her desk, Emily felt less of a weight on her today after the short conversation she had with Aaron in the garage. She was still nervous about verbalizing the swirl of emotions she was having that evening with him. But she also knew he would listen and support her.

She knew the rest of his team would support her fully as well. She just needed to tell them what had happened and what she had learned. And the more she thought about it, the more she knew that Aaron was right. She wasn't alone. Not like she had been most of her life.

But she needed to talk things through with Aaron first.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will be posted early next week.**


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

"What do you think is going on with Gumdrop and Bossman?" Garcia asked as she sat on the edge of Morgan's desk.

It was late morning and the bullpen was surprisingly deserted because none of the other BAU teams were currently in the office. One team finished a case in the Plains the previous evening however had been prevented from returning due to weather. Another was on still on stand down after a difficult case 2 weeks earlier. And the last team was consulting on a local case.

Garcia had come out of her office to hang out with the team in the bullpen. Currently only Reid and Morgan were there at their desks. JJ was discussing one of her consults with another department. When he came out of his first meeting of the morning, Hotch had tasked Rossi and Blake to meeting with Agent Lewis to gain insight about the escaped inmates from the prison break.

Agent Lewis' previous assignment had involved interviewing prisoners around the country. By some stroke of luck, she just happened to have interviewed 6 of the 7 inmates now being sought. There were her notes and either voice or video recordings along with transcriptions from each of her interviews. The Director was hoping this information would contain details that the profilers could use to hypothesize what the next steps and/or destinations of these dangerous criminals would be. Then that profile could share with those on the ground to assist in their quick apprehension.

Then Hotch had been pulled into a meeting with Strauss and Assistant Director Donaldson shortly after he finished speaking with Rossi and Blake.

Morgan turned to her and nodded. "Yeah, they definitely seem out of sync this week."

Reid looked up from the pile of paper clips, rubber bands and coffee stirrers that he had on his desk. Neither Morgan nor Garcia knew what he was trying to do with them. And they didn't dare ask. He looked at them confused and said, "how do you know? Emily hasn't been over at all this week."

Morgan looked at Garcia who gave him a 'duh' look. He chuckled and turned to face Reid before saying, "exactly kid. No matter how busy she is, Emily always comes over at least once a day, even if it's just to get coffee and say hi. Most of the time she is the one to bring us the cases and consults for our team while this week she has been sending them over with Anderson. She and Hotch generally have lunch together most days but at least twice a week when both are in the office and so far not at all this week." Reid shrugged and turned his attention back to the project on his desk.

"Plus there was how weird she was acting the last couple of team nights." Garcia added.

Reid looked back at them as he said, "yes but her mother died less than 2 weeks ago. Everyone grieves in their own way."

"But her and her mother weren't close." Garcia added.

Reid shook his head and said, "and that may be exactly what is upsetting her. They weren't close but there was always the possibility they could work out their differences. With the Ambassador death, that possibility no longer exists. All of us saw how upset she was the night the DSS agents came to the house." As he finished, neither Morgan or Garcia missed the faraway look in his eyes. It was clear that he had given the topic some thought before today.

Both knew that Spencer also had a difficult parental relationship only his was with his father. Morgan had been there a couple years earlier when Spencer had confronted his father in Vegas, 15 years after he had abandoned Spencer and his mother.

While the circumstances were different, both Emily and Spencer had a parent that they had been estranged from. The team knew the two of them had discussed it with each other though it was rarely discussed with anyone else on the team, both knowing only the other would really understand the emotional toll. If anyone was able to fully empathize with possible mixed emotions Emily was having about her mother's death, it would be Spencer.

"True." Morgan added quietly, not being able to dispute what Reid had said.

They were all quiet for a couple of minutes before Garcia looked up and said, "but doesn't explain what up between her and Hotch. Hotch did say that something happened at the will reading but neither of them has said anything about it since that day. Also usually whenever one of them is having a difficult time, they tend to be inseparable."

Both Reid and Morgan nodded at that. Hotch had mostly kept to his office this week, interacting with the team as little as possible. When he had interacted with them, he had been in a foul mood. It was not a Hotch that they had to work with since his marriage with Haley had started to fall apart.

And that fact had them worried. All of them loved Hotch and Emily. And they knew how much the two loved each other.

Morgan looked around at the nearby doors, checking for Hotch before saying, "yeah he has been walking around looking like he lost his puppy all week." Morgan said and all three chuckled.

Garcia also looked around before adding "and grouchy. He kicked Kevin out of my office yesterday." Morgan chuckled to himself knowing that Hotch's glares scared to crap out of Kevin. As much as he knew his best friend liked her fellow eccentric tech geek, Morgan could barely tolerate the guy.

####

While her colleagues were talking, JJ had slipped back into the bullpen after finishing her meeting. Before she could approach the group, she overheard what they were discussing and stopped. Frowning, she stayed in the shadows, continuing to listen.

She also was concerned about their two friends. Unknown to the rest of the team, Hotch had been getting rides home with her each day this week because Emily was leaving earlier than usual. Hotch had been quiet in the car each day on the drive.

JJ had always considered her best friend a good and attentive mother. However when they arrived at the Hotchner house where the nannies were caring for the Hotchner and LaMontagne children this week, Emily was being overly attentive to the children in a way that JJ had never seen from Emily before. The profiler in her said that this recent change in behavior indicated that Emily was trying to overcompensate for something. What that something was JJ did not know though she could tell it was deeper than her mother's death.

JJ had also noticed a difference in the interactions between Hotch and Emily, even at home where they generally were more relaxed. While they were cordial with each other, they lacked the usual passion and light-hearted banter than was typical of the couple.

She hoped her friends would work out soon whatever the issue was. It was clear to her that disconnect was making them both miserable. Maybe this weekend she would see if Emily was interested in having a girls' night. They could invite Garcia and Blake along or just the two of them going out.

Before JJ could contemplate anymore, she heard the others greet Blake who had just returned to the bullpen. While they were momentarily distracted she moved and also entered the sightline of her colleagues.

####

Dave Rossi walked down the hall and entered the bullpen from the side door, his presence blocked by the metal shelving units packed with files. He stopped, still concealed, as he heard members of his team talking. Always seeking information on the people around him, Dave stopped to listen. It quickly became clear to him that they were talking about Hotch and Emily.

Dave sighed and shook his head. He too had noticed the recent change in the couple. Unlike the younger members of the team, he didn't think there were issues with the couples' marriage. He had surmised that something life changing had happened around the time of the Ambassador's death. Something so significant that neither of them were handling it well, particularly Emily.

As he overheard what the group was saying about Hotch, he had a different interpretation of the Unit Chief's behavior. What Dave saw was overwhelming worry. What or who he was worried about Dave didn't know however he knew that Emily was huge part of it. There were very few topics that would affect Hotch this much. Emily and the kids were at the top of that list.

However, what specifically the issue was Dave hadn't been able to surmise. He had tried to talk to Hotch. The Unit Chief hadn't denied there was something going on with him, only that it was complicated and he wasn't able to talk about it yet. What struck Dave the most during that private conversation was that Hotch just looked sad when they were talking.

Dave had to agree with the team's assessment that Emily hadn't been over to visit. He hadn't seen her in the bullpen since she had returned a few days earlier. However she had greeted him warmly when they ran into each other in the hall and had waved a couple of other times when she saw him. He noticed during those brief interaction that Emily also seemed stressed. Unlike the rest of them team, he knew that Hotch had been getting rides home with JJ because Emily was leaving earlier than usual.

Dave's conclusion was that Emily's avoidance of the bullpen was being done to help her maintain the level of professionalism that her position required. While generally she didn't have an issue with that, whatever she was dealing with was making her insecure enough that she wasn't sure she could maintain a facade in the presence of her friends. So she was keeping a distance at the moment.

Shaking his head, Dave turned and walked back out of the bullpen.

####

Emily looked down and groaned at the knock on her door. She wasn't surprised at all to see Dave Rossi on the other side when the door opened.

He somehow had known even shortly after they had met when something was bothering her. He also somehow knew what she needed during those times whether it be a hug or a cup of coffee to reassurance after a tough case to the private conversation they had in empty lot so that she would open up during the case after her friend Matthew's death.

Dave's arrival in her office wasn't completely unexpected. She had changed her routine this week and that was something that a team of profilers was going to notice.

As he came into her office he quietly walked over and sat in one of the chairs in front of her desk, Emily noticed he was closely observing her. Profiling her.

Emily rolled her eyes at her mentor's obvious assessment of her and took a deep breath before saying, "Good morning Dave. What can I do for you today?" She sat up in her chair, making eye contact and crossing her arms on the desk in front of her.

"Well, you haven't been over to the bullpen to visit recently so I thought I would come over and see how you are doing." Dave replied as he sat back in his chair.

Emily nodded before she answered, "Thanks for checking but I'm fine."

Dave leaned forward and tapped his fingers on the armrest of his chair. He shook his head as he said, "You know in the years that I've known you I have learned that when you start telling people that you are 'fine', it definitely means that you aren't." He made air quotes when said the word, "fine".

Emily looked at him like a deer in headlights. If anyone other than Aaron could get her to talk about how she was feeling, it was Dave. And Dave wasn't nearly as subtle as Aaron.

However Emily didn't want to have this conversation in the office. He had just entered her office 2 minutes earlier and Emily could already feel her walls starting crumble. She looked at Dave and said pleadingly, "Dave, please don't."

Dave was immediately taken aback. Emily was begging him to stop. Agent Prentiss never begged.

Looking at the woman in front of him, Dave quickly decided to change his approach. Clearly there was something larger at play here and Emily's reaction was a blinking red light that he decided to heed, at least for now. He wanted her to open up though he could see she was a few seconds away to completely shutting down and that would not be to anyone's benefit.

Dave, looking at her, said softly, "Emily, I'm not trying to hurt you. Just know that I'm here when you are ready to talk. And if you aren't going to talk to anyone else, talk to Aaron."

Emily's head shot up and she replied panicking, "Why did you say that? Has he said something to you about what happened?" She knew that Aaron and Dave were close friends in addition to colleagues and that they talked. She knew that Aaron was upset that she was keeping her feeling to herself. But what had he told Dave. Did Dave know everything? Is that why he was here today?

Dave looked at her stunned at the reaction. Knowing that he needed to clarify the confusion, Dave answered, "No but thank you for confirming that something did happen. Aaron has not told me anything and has mostly been keeping to himself this week. I did go talk to him first and all he would say is that it was complicated. The rest of the team is worried about both of you. You are avoiding us and Aaron is walking around like he lost his puppy." If Emily saw Hotch before Dave cleared up this misunderstanding, an angry Hotch would be in Dave's office that afternoon.

Emily grasped her hands on her desk in front of her before she looked up at him and answered softly, "It's not Aaron. It's me. And yes, something did happen or I should say we learned some things at the will reading that I haven't been handling well."

Dave looked at Emily and as she talked he could see the sadness and vulnerability on her face.

It was no secret on the team that Dave had a soft spot for the woman who sat before him. While he had gotten off to a rocky start when he rejoined the team, it had been Emily who had been the first one after Aaron to give him a chance to prove he could work within the team structure.

In turn, he also gave her a chance and he was impressed with her skills as a profiler based on the relatively short time she had been with the BAU. He didn't know when it happened but he had become her professional mentor.

He had also been their biggest cheerleader when her and Hotch started dating. Dave had seen the chemistry between the two within his first couple of days on the team though neither of them seemed aware at the time. At that point Hotch's marriage was in shambles and he was waiting to find out if Haley was lying about the child she was carrying wasn't his child. Over the next several months, he saw the two slowly grow closer after tests concluded that he was indeed Jack's father and Hotch's divorce was finalized.

Once Hotch and Emily started their relationship, Dave had gone all in to support them. He immediately took over as Emily's supervisor which Strauss and the Director quickly approved as Dave had been acting as her mentor for several months at that point.

When it became clear that either Aaron or Emily was going to leave the team after Jack came to live with them full time after Haley was killed in a car accident, Dave quietly suggested to Strauss that Emily would be a perfect fit for a position that they had been abstractly planning to create for months given her experience.

Emily's work with her new team had gotten him thanks for the Director for making the recommendation.

However, in all the time he had known her, vulnerable was not a word he would ever use to describe Agent Prentiss. Seeing that reaction in the office, Dave knew there was reason to be concerned as he said, "You would feel better if you would talk about it."

Emily nodded before saying, "I know. I figured that out this morning. But I need to talk to Aaron first. We're going to talk tonight. I've been shutting him out which is probably why he is upset."

Dave noticed her voice dropped and she looked down as she finished talking. Taking a deep breath, he sighed and then shook his head wondering what had happened to have Emily so out of sorts. It was unheard of for Emily not to have been talking to Hotch for what was now several days. It clearly wasn't an argument and they weren't upset with each other.

It seemed that Elizabeth Prentiss had assured that she had the last word even in death on her relationship with her daughter. From their conversations, Dave learned that Emily and the Ambassador had never been close. After the death of her father, Emily had mostly been raised by nannies and boarding schools. Even with that, her mother had strictly controlled her life until Emily had walked away when she was 18, determined to live her life on her terms.

Even then, Elizabeth Prentiss had tried multiple times to use her influence to affect Emily's education and later her career. The Ambassador's influence had had very little effect since Emily joined the BAU with Strauss' intervention as a buffer.

The Ambassador had had a huge issue when Emily and Aaron started dating that intensified after they became engaged. It was unclear to everyone what her objection had been to their relationship other than Emily was happy.

Even after their wedding continuing through to the funeral the previous week, the Ambassador as well as her husband refused to acknowledge the marriage or the existence of Emily's children.

Dave leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs he looked at her and said softly, "Emily, he's upset because he loves you and sees that you are in pain and doesn't know what to do to help you."

Emily took a deep breath and nodded before saying, "I know. We talk for a few minutes this morning. I wasn't deliberately pushing him away. I'm just … overwhelmed…"

A knock at the door interrupted followed quickly by Agent Anderson sticking his head into the office. The attention of both agents was peaked because of the worried expression on his face.

Agent Anderson walked a few feet in her office and stopped to the side of her desk. Holding a file out in front of him, he stammered, "Apologies for the interruption Agent Prentiss, Agent Rossi but we just got a Priority 1 request."

With that pronouncement both Emily and Dave quickly rose from their seat walking towards Agent Anderson. Emily took the file from him and nodded. He quickly exited the office. After opening the files and scanning the contents, she loudly exclaimed, "dammit" before handing the file to Dave and walking over a computer terminal stationed in the corner of her office.

Dave quickly opened the file and started to read. He felt sick the further he read. "Emily, who is available?" He looked up and could see she was already on the status page for all of the BAU teams. He saw her quickly switching between different pages.

As she continued to click through checking to see which team were available and closest for this urgent case, Emily responded, "Checking now. Cooper's team is an hour away and finished their case yesterday. However, weather had them grounded. Damn, they are still grounded. No planes are getting off the ground." She stopped and stepped away from the screen before looked over at him and said calmly, "your team is the only one available right now."

Dave nodded and said, "Aaron is still meeting with Strauss and Donaldson" knowing that the Unit Chief would have to formally accept the case, however there was no doubt in either of their minds that they would be taking it.

Emily nodded and took the file that Dave was holding out for her. "OK. Let me go talk to them. Can you gather the team and get Garcia started on the direct feed?" and they started to walk towards the door.

"Yeah, I'll tell the team we are on the move as soon as we get the confirmation from you. Let Aaron know I'll get his bag from his office." Dave answered and they walked out of her office into the open area where her team's desks' were located. Emily stopped and looked at him when he stopped in the doorway. "We should probably take Lewis with us."

Emily stopped and nodded to him. "Understood." She then turned to her agents and focused on one in particular, "Tara, do you have a go-bag ready?" Since their team did not travel, it was not a requirement to have one ready at this point in her training.

Agent Lewis was sitting at her desk looked up when Emily addressed her and answered immediately, "yes, ma'am." as she gestured under her desk. JJ had alerted her during orientation that later in her training when they felt she was ready she would travel on a case with one of the team. Tara had gone home that day and prepared a bag which had been under her desk since then. Today, she was relieved that it was there.

Emily smiled at her as she answered briefly remembering her own first case with the BAU to Gitmo when she joined Hotch's team. "Good. Take it and go with Agent Rossi. He will explain the situation on the way." She then turned to the other two agents on her team, "Stephen and Luke, I'll update you on the case when I return. Initiate a direct line with Garcia." Stephen nodded to her and then gestured to Luke to follow him and they both walked into the workroom next to Emily's office.

As she was walking down the hall, Emily found the agent she needed, "Agent Anderson, call the airfield and have them prep the jet for a Priority 1 case." He nodded and jogged towards his desk.

Emily continued down the hall towards Strauss' office.

 **AN: Next chapter will be later this week.**


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER 10**

While meeting with Strauss and Donaldson about a previous case, Hotch sat and listened as they were arguing points among themselves. He had been wondering for the last 15 minutes if his presence was still necessary.

Assistant Director Donaldson was a political appointee who had never been an FBI agent or even worked in law enforcement for that matter. He had been successful in the private sector and looked at everything through that lens which didn't always line up with FBI best practices.

As they spoke, Hotch's attention shifted to Emily. He was relieved that she had started to open up to him about how she was feeling. The last few days the tension at their house had risen. They usually spoke about everything so to have this between them was stressful.

From the short discussion they had in the car, it was clear that she wasn't upset with him. After the revelation about their families' feud followed by Emily curling in on herself, he wasn't sure where it left them.

He had known about the feud since he was a child from stories his mother told him. He had never made the connection with Emily or her connection to the Breckenridge family. However even if he had it wouldn't have changed his feelings about her. He had been hoping that she felt the same way. All indications from their earlier talk were that the feud wasn't going to be a factor going forward.

With that fear out of the way, Hotch thought about everything that they would need to talk about from her adoption to how she wanted to handle to inheritance to the revelations that the lawyers and her stepfather had made.

Hotch knew that there had been friction in Emily and the Ambassador's relationship, even before their conflict over his relationship with Emily. However, he hadn't realized until the meeting in the lawyers' office just how deep the animosity was. And from her reaction, Emily hadn't realized the depth either.

Hotch was pulled out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. Strauss stood up and walked over to the door and after a few words with her assistant, opened the door wider as the subject of his musing stepped into office.

Emily quickly walked into the office and Strauss' assistant shut the door behind her. Meeting the eyes of her superiors, Emily said, "Chief Strauss, Assistant Director Donaldson, I apologize for the interruption but I need to talk to Agent Hotchner."

Hotch's attention was immediately peaked as Emily would have only interrupted this meeting for extenuating circumstances. There was either an emergency with one of the kids or an urgent case.

Before he could say anything, Donaldson said condescendingly, "Agent Prentiss, we are in the middle of a _very_ important meeting. You will need to wait to talk to your _husband_ until we are through."

Hotch glared at him though Donaldson couldn't see as he was facing the other direction still looking at Emily. As much as Hotch wanted to say something, he knew that Emily wouldn't want him to do it.

Before they made their relationship official, she had been clear that at work she was an FBI agent and needed to still fight her own battles if she was going to be taken seriously. If he started defending her against even guy that criticized her, then the Bureau would separate and reassign them. But this wasn't the first time that Donaldson had verbally chastised Emily in front of others in addition to opposing her promotion.

After everything she had been through over the last couple of weeks, Hotch couldn't help but want to protect her. However when he looked over at her, he relaxed. From her somber demeanor to her body language, he could see that his wife had this under control. He could also see that whatever her reason for being here, it was serious.

Emily stated, "sir, I am here in my official capacity. It has to do with the escaped prisoners in Peoria…"

Donaldson interrupted her harshly, "Agent Prentiss, all of us are well aware of the prison break this morning and so should you if you had been the mandatory meeting this morning." Ignoring that he had spoken to her in the meeting, dismissing her concern for the safety of those inside the search radius. He had also refused the suggestions of several others about precautions that should be taken stating that it would be a burden on the local business community.

Donaldson huffed and crossed his arms across his chest before continuing. "Work is being done on the ground now and we will have a briefing in an hour."

Emily stood up straight and looked him in the eye. She knew that he was trying to belittle her and they did not have time for that right now. He was already wasting valuable time with his posturing. Thankfully the team was preparing to leave and the jet was already being prepared because she was certain that her husband was going to want to take this case as soon he hears what it is.

Emily continues on firmly, "Yes sir, I was in the meeting this morning. There has been a significant development that Agent Hotchner need to be made aware of because his team is needed on the ground." When she said that, Hotch and Strauss could tell from her tone that what she was going to say was going to be unnerving.

With all three looking at her, Emily continued, "A report just came in that a school bus carrying elementary school children has disappeared within the search radius. When the bus didn't reach the school as expected, the staff called 911. When the local police investigated they found the driver's body on the side of the road." As she finished she could hear Strauss gasp and Emily handed Hotch the file as he moved closer to her. Donaldson came up next to him.

"How many children were on the bus?" Strauss asked as she moved to Hotch's other side to look at the file.

"41. They have confirmed that the bus made its last pickup on the morning route and was heading for the school. The clock is currently between 40 and 55 minutes." Emily answered quickly after looking at her watch.

Donaldson looked at her as he asked, "Don't we have a closer team? Didn't Cooper's team just finish a case in Nebraska last night?"

Emily responded calmly yet forcefully, "yes sir. However they are still wheels down due to the blizzard." Donaldson nodded while still looking at the file. Emily then continued, "That's another reason we need to get a team on the ground as soon as possible."

All of them looked up from the file to look at Emily before she finished her thought, "The storm is heading east and the National Weather Service is expecting dropping temperature throughout the day and blizzard conditions in Peoria in 10 hours." The temperature of the room dropped and Donaldson looked a few shades paler. He handed Hotch the file back and said,

"Agent Hotchner, we will continue this meeting when you return." He turned and looked at Emily pointedly, "Agent Prentiss, I expect your team to provide backup from here until those children are found."

Emily had to use all of her self control to avoid rolling her eyes in response to his comment. She knew the role that her and her team had for cases with this level of urgency. She had been involved in writing the protocols that the teams were currently acting under for a priority 1 case.

Emily had known as soon as she looked at this case, even before she knew that her husband's team would be taking it, that her team would be working on this case until they found the kids. There was a moment of guilt knowing that neither of them were going to be there for bedtime which rarely happened after she had stopped traveling.

For Emily, it was hard to be away from them at all right now. However, her kids were safe and warm and being well cared for by people who loved them. She was going to do her best to find those missing 41 children. They all wanted to do what they could so that these children could safely be returned to their parents and sleep in their own beds tonight.

Deciding to let the dig go so that they could be dismissed and Hotch could get to the jet, Emily said in her most polite 'fuck you' tone,

"Yes _sir_. I was meeting with Agent Rossi when the case was brought to me and he is gathering the team. The are on standby waiting for the official word. The jet is being prepared for immediate departure. My team is already setting up continuous feed with TA Garcia and the CARD team on the ground in Peoria per protocol." Donaldson nodded at her response before turning to Hotch. Emily sent a quick 'go' text message to Rossi which he immediately acknowledged.

"Good luck Agent Hotchner." As he finished he walked out the door of Strauss' office. Hotch and Emily nodded to Strauss as she waved them out.

As they exited Strauss' office, they quickly walked towards the elevators. "Rossi was grabbing your bag. The team is already on the move."

Hotch nodded to her and keep walking past the entrance to the bullpen, heading for the elevator. He stopped when he noticed that Emily had stopped walking at the end the hallway that led to her office. He walked back up to her and asked earnestly, "Come with me to the airfield."

Emily looked at him and then towards her office and then back to her husband. She looked torn and looked back down towards her office. But there wasn't much they could do until the link was established and she had left Walker in charge of getting that set up. It wasn't the first time he had been through this process and Garcia could temporarily walk him through any problems until Emily got back. Teaching how to set up the link was a skill that he still needed to be signed off on and today he was going to get his chance.

Emily nods and says, "Let's go" as she walks towards the elevator.

####

"I'm sorry we're not going to get to talk tonight." Hotch said as he drove the SUV heading for the airstrip. The rest of his team had already left when Emily texted Dave that they were taking the case. Hotch was torn about having to leave now that Emily had opened up to him however there was no way he could say no to this case

Emily sighed and nodded, "We'll talk when you get back. This morning helped and I know I need to get it out." She hadn't wanted to delay either now that she had made the first step.

Hotch looked over at her before turning back to the road, "What was the meeting with Dave about?"

Emily looked over at her husband as she quipped, "He was just checking in since I haven't been over to the bullpen this week. Apparently it is something that profilers notice." She stopped and chuckled, drawing Hotch's attention to her.

When she caught his eyes, she said. "He seemed relieved that we were going to talk tonight since according to him, we've both been out of sorts this week." He laughed at the remark. Thinking back, he would agree that he had been off in recent days and Dave had already come to talk to him.

"Did you tell him what was going on?" Hotch asked tentatively.

He knew that the elder profiler had an uncanny ability to get Emily to open up and talk about things. However in this case, Hotch wasn't sure what answer would make him feel better. He knew she needed to talk and had been ready to this morning. And if the person they both trusted implicitly got her to open up, it could only help her to get it out and be a sounding board for for their talk.

However, as her husband, Hotch wanted to be the first one she talked to about how she was feeling.

Emily shook her head as she responded, "No, I told him I needed to talk to you first. He just said that he was there when I was ready." She was looking at her husband as she said it.

They came to a stop in the parking area near where the jet was kept. Looking at the cockpit, they could see the pilots doing their preflight checks. They both exited the SUV and walked around to the front. Hotch gave Emily a hug and whispered in her ear, "OK. You and me and some wine the first night I'm back." She rubbed his back and nodded before releasing him. Emily smiled at him and said, "It's a date. Stay safe and stay warm. I love you." She then leaned in and his lips met hers. He brought his hands up and cupped her face, not wanting to let go.

They were startled when the engine noise increased, knowing from travelling as much as they do, that it was an indication that the pilots were at the end of their checklist for takeoff. Hotch pulled back, hands still on her face as he said, "I love you too," before giving her a small kiss before walking to the plane and jogging up the stairs.

Emily went around to the driver's seat and climbed in. She took a quick look at the jet which had started it's taxiing towards the runway. She placed the SUV in drive for the short drive back to the BAU.

####

Inside the jet, Morgan was on the phone with Garcia, their conversation in the bullpen having been cut short with the arrival of Rossi and his announcement that they were going to be on the move. Once they heard what the case was, Garcia had headed back to her lair while the rest paced until Rossi got the text from Emily.

It had been a welcome sight to all of them that Emily had ridden over with Hotch. As soon as he saw her in the SUV when Hotch approached, Morgan had called Garcia to let her know.

"Baby girl, she came over to the airstrip with him. They just kissed on the tarmac. I still don't know what is going on with them but they are just as close as ever." Morgan said excited as he saw Hotch jogging up the stairs onto the jet.

Garcia sighed as she exclaimed, "Oh that is sunshine on this otherwise horrible day. Stay safe. Same to the rest of my loves. I will update all of you in route when I have more information. Garcia out."

 **AN: The next chapter is almost done and will be uploaded around New Years'. Coming in the chapter: we find out who Natalie's favorite members of the BAU are and who is upset to not being the favorite, someone makes an innocuous comment that hits Emily in a sensitive place leading the team to find out what has had her out of sorts.**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Happy New Years. I hope all of you have a great 2018.**

 **Here is the next chapter. I am adding a trigger warning for emotional abuse and mentions of the past death of a child(similar to chapter 6) as well as mentions of rape and abortion in the past.**

 **CHAPTER 11**

Hotch walked into the house carrying several grocery bags containing the items Emily had requested from the store in preparation for the team, except for Alex who was visiting her husband this weekend, to come over for dinner. He and Emily were planning to tell them everything that had happened in the events surrounding the death of the Ambassador.

It had been two busy weeks since the team had left on the urgent case with the missing children in IL. They had been successful in finding the all the children in a harvested field just as the sun was setting and the snow was starting to fall. And except for a few cases of dehydration and exposure all receiving clean bills of health. At least physically. The Bureau had worked with the local hospital to bring in more trauma counselors to evaluate the children and talk with parents.

Unfortunately, the storm delayed the team returning home until two days later.

As promised, Hotch and Emily sat down that night and most nights since after putting the kids to bed to talk. The first night, as expected, had been the most difficult for Emily to find a place to start. Hotch mostly listened, only interrupting to clarify something or to give reassurance however that first night he had asked her to pick something, no matter how small and go from there to help her get started.

Not surprising to him, she had started with the lies that her mother had been telling the family lawyers for years. Of all they learned, it was safest topic for her emotionally because it had not been a secret between them that Emily had been rebellious in her teens. Though he couldn't judge her when he had been rebellious as well until his parents had sent him to military school. Emily had been very open with him about she had gotten into partying, drinking and smoking as a way interact with classmates. She even told him about having tried weed a few times.

That all ended one night in Rome. She had attended a party with her one of her few friends, John. A couple of hours later she left the house in tears, her clothes torn and virginity ripped away. The person she thought was a friend stood by and did nothing to stop the unforgettable from happening to her by boys with whom John still wanted to continue being friends.

Weeks laters, her rising fears were confirmed by a stick with 2 pink lines staring back at her. Her one other remaining friend Matthew had noticed her despair and finally after he cornered her after school one day, she told him everything that had happened.

The next couple of months had been difficult as she dealt with the fall out. After Matthew's death, Emily had told Hotch that it was only because of Matthew's support that she made it through those months because she had felt attacked from every direction.

When the Ambassador confronted Emily about how her attitude and goth attire was reflecting poorly on the Ambassador, Emily hadn't had the energy the fight the decision her mother made that she was transferring to a boarding school back in the US. Emily had told him she had been afraid that her mother would have followed through with the threat to disown her regardless of the circumstances.

'Terrified of being alone with no resources in a foreign country wasn't something any 15yo should have to worry about.' Hotch thought as Emily told him the story. And given what they had learned about the Ambassador's feelings towards Emily, Hotch could now see that would have been a real possibility. Emily had explained to him she had been OK with being at school in the US because then if her mother found out and she was disowned, she would at least been in the States.

At her new school, Emily had put her whole focus into her academics, wanting to go to college and finally be out from under her mother's thumb.

The biggest regret she mentioned to him was leaving Matthew in Rome because he had been there for her when she had needed him. She knew he was struggling with his faith after witnessing the reactions Emily received to her predicament.

Based on the attorney's comments, Hotch wondered what exactly the Ambassador had told them about what happened in Rome. Emily did tell him that she had never shared with her mother about the rape, pregnancy or abortion. Had the Ambassador somehow found out what happened or had she made up a story about this part of Emily's life as well?

From her early days with the BAU, Hotch recognized that Emily overcompensated, profiling even in those early days that it stemmed from insecurities. Over the course of their relationship, he came to understand that those insecurities were based on events that occurred during her childhood. He hadn't truly appreciated everything that she had endured as a child until the last few weeks.

####

As Emily worked in the kitchen, she was trying to keep her nerves under control. Today they were going to tell the team everything that they had learned at the will reading. Aaron had reassured her that they didn't need to tell them anything unless she was ready.

However, now after talking through her feelings with Aaron over the last couple of weeks, she wanted to tell the team who were her closest friends what they had learned. She knew that all of them were worried about her. She could see the concern in their eyes each time she saw them.

After the team came back from the case in Peoria, she had made an effort to make short visits to the bullpen most days since Dave had pointed out that her absence had been noted and commented on to him.

However being unable to compartmentalizing her feelings was the reason she started to stay out of the bullpen and that had persisted.

Some days her emotions were closer to the surface because of the topics she was talking about with Aaron. Those were the days that she avoided the bullpen because she couldn't risk losing her focus in the office.

####

"Hotch, man, your daughter has strange taste in men." Morgan announced as he walked into the family room where Hotch, Will and Garcia were talking.

Hotch looked over at him confused. Generally he was good at predicting what people were going to say however his 6 month old daughter's tastes in men was not a topic he had anticipated being discussed for many years. He replied as he gave Morgan a pointed look, "Pardon me."

Morgan walked into the room and sat on the opposite couch before he said, "I just walked into the kitchen to say hi to everyone…"

Garcia giggled as she interjected "...filch some veggies and dip."

Morgan rolled his eyes before continuing, "Yes, I got a snack but I went in to say hi. When I took Natalie from Pretty Boy, she took one look at me and burst into tears and tried to throw herself out of my arms."

Hotch glared at him intently and asked slowly, "You didn't drop her did you?"

Hotch was almost positive that he hadn't because there would have been more commotion from the kitchen if Natalie was hurt. Though the best indicator was that Morgan was being jovial and calmly sitting in front of him.

All joking aside, Hotch knew that Morgan loved all the kids and would be devastated if he had been even tangentially been involved with one of them getting hurt.

Morgan held out his arms in front of him and waved his hands in front of him as he quickly answered, "No man! Are you kidding?! Princess would have already have killed me if I'd had dropped her."

The others chuckled at the accurate comment. "I tightened my hold on her so she wouldn't fall. And do you want to know what your daughter did." He stopped and waited for Hotch to shake his head. "She turned and next thing I know she landed a punch to my face. And let me tell you she has a decent right cross." As he finished he started to rub the right side of his jaw. Will and Garcia openly laughed at him.

Garcia looking quickly for little ears before saying, "Of course she does, she's a badass like her mom."

"What did Emily say?" Will asked, still laughing.

"Laughed her head off and told me to give her back to Reid." Morgan replied before pouting.

"What were they doing?" Hotch asked curiously.

Morgan mumbled as he rolled his eyes, "reading a book… again. Something about rhinos."

Everyone looked at him confused, wondering if Reid had brought over a new book with him when Will suddenly looked up and said, "The hippo book."

Hotch nodded his head, knowing Natalie's current obsession for this particular book well, "Derek, it was no competition. That's her favorite book." They had just gone out and purchased an extra copy of the book the earlier in the week after an hour of crying when they couldn't find it at bedtime one night. It turned out that it had been left in the car and had slid under a seat. They were trying to avoid a similar situation in the future.

Morgan sat back on the couch and crossed his arms in front of him as he grumbled, "But it's not just today" before adding indignantly, "Kids love me. Jack loves me. Henry loves me. Caitlin loves me. But Natalie, she likes Reid more than me."

Hotch sighed and then explained to him, "that's because every time Spencer's over, he reads to her. She loves books, especially that particular book."

When Emily had left the team, Reid had taken it especially hard. Even with still being in the BAU and having her office on the same floor, it was different. Not wanting to lose their friendship, they committed to meeting every week whether it be for coffee, lunch, or on occasion, a foreign film.

Spencer, after a couple of awkward visits, became a fixture in their home. He came over for dinner at least once a week. Many weekends, he and Emily would meet at a coffee shop close to her house for a couple of hours to just talk. The only rule they had was no work topics.

The kids loved Spencer's visits. Jack asked every visit for Spencer to show him magic tricks. Hotch and Emily has approved physics magic as long as he didn't show Jack how it was done and that Reid promised not to blow anything up and try really hard not to break anything.

With Natalie, although he had gained confidence with infants from Henry and Jack, he still was nervous with her when she cried. When she was about 3 months old, he started to read her a book when she was fussy and immediately it calmed her. And from that day on, every time Spencer visited, he read her at least one book though most of the time it was several.

Morgan looked up at him and chuckled before he said, "So what you're telling me is that your baby is already a nerd."

Hotch shook his head as he looked at the assembled group and said quietly, "Is that really so surprising?" They all shook their heads.

"A nerd who will kick your ass, Hot Stuff." Garcia said laughing followed by the others.

Morgan laughed back as he said, "isn't that the truth" and then looked thoughtful for a few minutes before returning to the previous topic, "but it's not just Reid. She loves Rossi too and Rossi isn't exactly a kid person." The group all nodded having witnessed Natalie crawl over to Rossi when he arrived so he'd pick her up.

Since coming out of retirement and back to the team, Rossi had been mostly hands off with all of the kids. He would ask about them, happily look at pictures and seemingly enjoyed hearing stories about them. However, whenever the team would have a get together with the families, he had limited his direct interactions with the kids. Nothing rude or dismissive but just gave off the vibe that he wasn't a kid person which everyone respected.

"True but somehow she's had him wrapped around her finger since day 1." Garcia answered softly, not wanting to bring up memories of those stressful days.

And it had been since day 1. The entire team had been surprised when they arrived at the hospital after Will called to let them know JJ was in labor with Caitlin to find an hours old Hotchner baby alone in the nursery. Inquiries with staff alerted them that there had been a complication with Emily and Hotch was at her bedside in the ICU.

Shortly after hearing that the team was at the hospital, Hotch came down and filled them in that after a quick but uneventful birth, Emily had been given a routine medication that she had explicitly requested not to have that resulted in a severe reaction.

Not wanting the baby to be alone in the nursery, Hotch talked to the hospital administrators demanding that the team be allowed to care for the newborn until he felt he could leave Emily for more than a few minutes which they immediately granted.

Meanwhile, Dave was arranging for JJ and Emily to get the VIP suite which included an individual room for each woman as well as a smaller bedroom where they had the boys sleep as well as a main gathering space.

After little Natalie was moved over to the suite, the nurse asked Dave, who just happened to be standing close by, to hold her as the staff was arranging the room.

When Hotch came to check in several hours later, he was surprised to hear from the others that it had been Dave who had been the one holding Natalie the whole time, rocking her in the chair in what would be Emily's room. He had repeatedly dismissed the others when they offered to take her. He had only asked for help with feeding her the first time.

"Yeah, she is the only one of the kids that I've seen him hold as a baby."

Hotch sighed. When he first took the profiling classes in preparation for applying for a position in was then the Behavioral Sciences Unit, he had heard rumors that Rossi had lost a child. Hotch didn't know if any of the rest of the team had heard the rumors and it wasn't his place to say anything. Rossi had never spoken of it so Hotch didn't even know if it was true. However Hotch had noticed Rossi had a painful look anytime they had a case with children particularly infants.

"Rainbow just adores him." Garcia gushed. No one had missed the smiles they both had when Natalie had noticed his arrival.

Morgan sat back on the couch, crossing his arms across his chest before mumbling, "like I said, she has strange taste in men."

####

It was after dinner and everyone was starting to gather in the family room. The kids were all being tucked into bed.

As the evening progressed, Hotch could feel the tension radiating off of Emily. It was not surprising she was getting ready to show substantial vulnerability by sharing the life-altering information that they had just recently learned. But she had confirmed earlier that she still wanted to tell them. These were her closest friends.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by raised voices in the dining room. As he walked into the room, he could see that everyone else had also come to see what had happened.

The scene in front of him was Garcia standing next to Emily and JJ with her hand over her mouth. JJ had tears in her eyes and was shocked into silence. Emily appeared flustered and upset and was looking down at the floor in front of her. When Garcia reached out and touched her arm, Emily looked up at her surprised and then noticed the others who had quietly entered the room. She looked wildly around the room as she blushed, embarrassed at her outburst. She then quickly mumbled an apology, walked out of the room and before anyone could stop her, she grabbed her coat and walked out the front door.

After he watched his wife disappear out the door, Hotch walked over to where JJ and Garcia were still standing and asked, "JJ, what happened?"

JJ turned to look at him, looking stunned and the tears still in her eyes. "I don't know Hotch. We were talking about needing to wash the cover on Henry's carseat. I totally forgot about it until we went out to get the bag before put the kids to bed. Will and I noticed when we got here that he got mud all over it from the park today. I just mentioned as we were coming downstairs that I was going to go out and change the strap height on Caitlin's seat and put him in that on the way home and move Caitlin to the seat that Natalie uses in our car. The straps on Caitlin's seat just adjust much easier than the other seat." Hotch nodded as Jack had gotten mud on his carseat more than once at the park.

JJ looked at Garcia before she continued, "As I was saying that Emily just started to get more agitated. Then she just blurted out that I can't switch the kid's seats. And then she started rambling about accidents and blaming Caitlin if Henry gets hurt."

She stopped and looked at him directly in the eyes and said forcefully, "We would never do that Hotch. Why would Emily say that to me?" Will came up and stood behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. He had a concerned look on his face as he looked at Hotch.

Hotch reached out and took her hand as he said, "I'm sorry JJ. I know you wouldn't and so does Emily?"

"Then why would she say that?" JJ barks back at him as she turned.

Hotch sighed, understanding why JJ was confused and upset. "It has to do why we asked all of you to come over tonight. Let's all go sit down in the family room and I'll explain." he said, gesturing to everyone to join him in the family room. He didn't want to tell the team this story without Emily but he couldn't let them leave with explaining the context of what happened. He didn't want this incident to adversely affect Emily and JJ's close bond.

As the team was getting settled in the family room, Hotch''s phone buzzed with a message from Emily that she was OK and was just going to go for a walk to clear her head.

Putting his phone back in his pocket, he looked at the team and started explaining. "As all of you know when we went to the will reading for the Ambassador, we found out about some information we hadn't been expecting. The relevant piece to what just happened is Emily found out some of the circumstances about how her brother died."

Everyone looked back at him in shock. The reaction wasn't surprising. Emily didn't like to talk about her brother. Hotch didn't know until shortly after they moved in together and he saw a picture of the two of them and asked.

JJ broke the silence by asking, "Emily had a brother? She has never mentioned him."

Spencer shook his head after being in deep contemplation for the previous couple of minutes as if he had been cataloguing every conversation he had ever had with Emily.

Hotch nodded and said, "she was 3 when he died. He was 6. I'm not sure exactly how much she remembers about him. From our talks it seems to be just random bits and pieces." The team nodded, agreeing that at 3, she won't have the same recall than if she had been older.

Hotch then continued, "the day he died, Emily was sick and stayed home while her brother went to school. At the end of the day on the way home, the driver for some reason that wasn't mentioned to us had him sitting in Emily's seat. There was an accident and her brother was killed." There were several gasps from the team and a look of recognition came across JJ's face, now realizing what Emily's outburst was about earlier.

"According to her stepfather, the Ambassador held a grudge against Emily after that because her son was killed because he was sitting in the seat Emily should have been sitting in." Hotch stopped and sat down and watched as the group took in what he had just said.

Morgan looked around at the group before he blurted out. "Wait, are you saying that she blamed Emily for his death?"

Hotch nodded his head before sadly answering, "Yes but Emily didn't know that the Ambassador blamed her until recently."

Morgan stood up and started pacing. He was devastated at what he was hearing that his former partner had experienced this loss. For him, the story hit too close to home.

He had been in the car when he saw he own father killed when he was 10. He didn't realize until he was older just how important it had been in his grieving process to hear from his mom, older sisters and aunt that it wasn't his fault and how glad they were that he had stayed in the car until help arrived.

He was having a hard time processing that his friend had been, on some level, receiving the exact opposite message from her mother.

He stopped and looked at the group as Will said sharply, "She was 3. And had no control over being sick or where she sat in the car." JJ reached over and squeezed his hand as they shared a knowing look. This was the same age that Henry was now.

"That's what I told her. But it's worse than that." As Hotch said that, the assembled group all looked right at him wondering how this story could get worse.

Morgan shouted, "it gets worse than _that_?" before he started pacing again.

Hotch took a deep breath before he continued, "Yes He also mentioned that the Ambassador had wished that Emily was in the car that day."

"What? She wanted it to be Emily who was there when the accident happened? Knowing what the outcome likely would have been?" Spencer asked with disbelief.

"Yes."

"What kind of parent does that?" JJ asks angrily.

"According to her stepfather, Emily was the child the Ambassador never wanted."

"What?"

"Emily was adopted. Her brother wasn't."

With that statement, the room erupted into chaos.

 **AN: I hope to post the next chapter next week. After that the story will start to pick up. The adoption papers will make an appearance in chapter 13 which will have Hotch asking questions.**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Sorry it has taken me so long to post this chapter. I struggled with this chapter. I'm not completely happy with it but I've rewritten it about 6 times. Good news is while I was taking breaks from this chapter, I was working on chapters 13 and 14 and starting to outline 15 and 16. I hope to have chapter 13 up in the next few days.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **CHAPTER 12**

It was 45 minutes later when Hotch finished explaining what he and Emily had agreed to share with the team about what they had learned . As he looked up at group in front of him, he didn't miss the look of stunned shock on everyone's face. There had been several interruptions during his explanation for questions and clarifications. The team had expressed a range of emotions from anger to worry to sadness.

With the silence in the room, a noise could be heard at the front of the house. Exchanging looks, all of them stood up and moved towards where they heard the sound, suspecting that it was Emily.

Shortly after they reached the foyer, they watched as she slowly and carefully opened the front door and quietly entered the house before closing the door looking more like a teen sneaking in after curfew than a married 31 yo FBI agent with 2 kids of her own.

When she turned around she had a deer-in-headlights look to see all of them looking at her intently. Emily took in the sight in front of her until her eyes stopped at her husband. He gave her a small nod before she sighed and looked down. Seconds later, she could see movement off to her side before being enveloped in a hug that she immediately could tell was JJ from the scent of her lotion.

All of the emotion that she felt as she was walking came bubbling to the surface and she choked out between sobs, "I'm so sorry, JJ. Sorry for what I said. I know you would never do that. You are nothing like her."

Having reached out to take Emily's hand, JJ exclaimed, "My god, Em you're freezing. Let's go get you some tea," as she wrapped her arm around her best friend and guided her towards the kitchen. The rest of the team could see Emily turned into her friend's embrace as they walked. Garcia walked away from the group, reentering the family room and grabbed a blanket from the back of one of the couches before following JJ and Emily into the kitchen.

As much as he wanted to be the one to comfort his wife, Hotch could see that the members of the team needed to be there for her too. From their talks the last couple of weeks, he knew that having people around her who she trusted and who wanted to support her was essential in helping her move forward.

He was relieved to see that Emily and JJ were already working out the conflict that had happened earlier. He wasn't surprised by either Emily apology as soon as she saw JJ or JJ's compassion having heard the context of the comment and realized that it wasn't personal.

As he was standing in the foyer watching the kitchen door wondering how long to wait before going in, Morgan came over and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hotch, is it OK if I leave my car here tonight. I'm going to call a cab." Morgan asked, glancing down at the phone he was holding in his hand.

"Of course." Hotch answered without looking away from the door.

"Can you stay with the kids tomorrow morning?" Morgan asked hesitantly.

Hotch turned to look at him before saying, "sure, why?"

"I want to take Emily to the gym."

"The gym?" Hotch said as he narrowed his gaze at Derek.

Morgan took in the protective look Hotch was shooting at him before continuing, "she's been off for a few weeks now. After tonight we all know why and it's understandable after everything she has learned."

"How will the gym help?" Hotch said, looking at Derek intently.

Derek shook his head before answering, "I'll get her out of her head. She needs to get out of her head. You know she does, Hotch." He stopped and took a deep breath before grinning at his boss and saying, "I'll challenge her and she won't be able to resist."

It wasn't a secret to anyone on the team that Derek and Emily had a sibling like dynamic almost since she joined the team. While they were complete professionals in the field and had partnered together frequently when she was on their team, at other times their bickering and banter had caused Hotch headaches on more than one occasion.

One aspect of their banter was to challenge the other in various pursuits. It was something that the rest of the team had just accepted about their friendship and when they got started just rolled their eyes at them. That, however, did not stop the rest of the team from trying to observe the actual challenge and track who won. It had also not been uncommon for them to take bets on the challenges. That was until the last challenge 8 months earlier.

When Emily and JJ had come over to the bullpen to bring the team's assigned consults, Morgan started teasing Emily about her increasing waddle. Emily had quickly retorted that it wasn't a waddle but walking so her back pain didn't get worse.

The banter continued and as a challenge was starting to be discussed, the team covertly paid attention seeing what they were going to decide so they could plan their bets. The friendly banter had ended when Morgan blurted out without thinking that he could drink her under the table.

The next 60 seconds had Morgan stunned silent when he realized what he said, Emily bursting into tears and Dave getting between Hotch and Morgan after seeing the murderous glare on Hotch's face. Morgan had come out of his stupor when JJ had hit him upside the head.

As he looked around at the disgusted looks from the team, Morgan couldn't help but be angry with himself. He immediately went over and kneeled down in front of the seat Emily was sitting in and took her hands. He then apologized to her saying he didn't want her to do anything that would jeopardize the health of her baby. He had then gone on to tell her that it wasn't a fair challenge and because it was his fault he was giving the win to her. Emily accepted his apology and the win before heading back to her office.

Hotch, on the other hand, was still pissed a couple days later when they were training in the gym together.

Hotch took a deep breath. From her early days on the team, Hotch had found that when Emily was having to work through a tough case, she would frequently go to the gym to work out. And as far as he knew she hadn't been there since she had learned of the Ambassador's death.

As long as Emily didn't object, it was worth a try to accept Morgan's suggestion. And he could see that Morgan just wanted to help her in the best way he knew how. Despite the questionable decision that led to the last challenge, Hotch knew Emily would be in good hands because he knew that Morgan would support her. 'As long as he doesn't make anymore outrageous challenges,' Hotch grumbled to himself.

Hotch nodded as he warned knowing that Morgan liked to push Emily's buttons, "I'd be careful about poking the bear Derek. She has had some aggression building up as she's been working through everything."

Derek chuckled before answered, "I'll be fine. Princess can't hurt me." Hotch rolled his eyes hoping that Morgan didn't end up regretting those words.

Hearing laughing coming from the kitchen, they walked into the kitchen to see Emily wrapped in a blanket sitting at one of the barstools at the counter with a cup of tea sitting in front of her. JJ was sitting down next to her while Reid was standing at the end of counter. They were all watching Garcia as she was excitedly telling a story while gesturing wildly to the group in front of her. She stopped as she noticed the new arrivals to the room.

"Don't stop on our account." Dave said smiling.

Garcia shook her head before answering, "No, we're finished. Heh, Hot Stuff, can I get a ride with you?" she said as she looked at Derek.

He nodded his head as he said, "we can share a cab if you want. I just requested one and they will be here in about 5 minutes."

"OK good." Garcia said as she started to give everyone hugs, stopping to give an extra long one to Emily. Then she walked back into the family room to grab her coat and bag.

As Derek walked up and gave her a hug goodnight he said, "Hey, Em. Tomorrow morning. You and me at the gym."

Emily sighed and answered, "what are you talking about? I don't need to do my competencies yet."

Morgan rolled his eyes at her as he answered, "I need a workout partner. I want to see if I can still kick your ass now that you are done with your 'I'm pregnant' and 'I just had a baby' excuses." making air quotes and used a mocking voice as he said it.

As he said it, JJ angrily started to walk towards them to until Hotch caught her arm and shook his head. She looked at him questioningly and Hotch leaned over and whispered, "he's helping," in her ear. Seconds later a look of understanding passed over her face and JJ visibly relaxed.

Emily stood up straight as she answered, "yeah I can still kick your ass. You better bring it Morgan."

Morgan laughed at her and he rustled her hair before pulling her into a tight hug, "oh don't you worry your pretty little head about me Princess. Tomorrow. Bureau gym at 7:30." He knew the 'pretty little head' comment would annoy her.

"Can't wait." Emily groused at him.

Morgan and Garcia walked out of the kitchen to go catch their cab that had just arrived. JJ invited Spencer to come home with them which he accepted. JJ hadn't been drinking with the rest of them as Hotch had been talking earlier and she was going to drive them back to her house.

When Hotch and Reid went with JJ and Will to gather their things and get the kids ready to go, Emily was left alone in the kitchen with Dave.

As she noticed the room suddenly clearing out, the confidence she had just a couple of minutes earlier was dissipating. She stood up and walked over towards the sink to put her cup into sink. Feeling Dave's eyes still on her, she said quietly, "so he told you everything?"

"Aaron said it was everything. I will say that 'complicated' was a gross understatement based on what we heard tonight." Dave replied calmly remembering what each of them had told him when he had spoke to them individually a couple of weeks earlier. However, he was anything but calm inside. He was unsettled by everything that Aaron had told them that evening.

Emily nodded and looked down as she said, "good. I'm glad all of you know."

Dave could see her withdrawing and starting to curl in on herself again. He walked over and placed his hand on her shoulder and waited for her to look at him before he said, "you know it doesn't change how any of us feel about you. Except that I now think even more about the wonderful person you are and everything that you have accomplished growing up surrounded by those toxic influences."

Dave wasn't one who gave out compliments easily or frequently however tonight he felt it was important for Emily to hear these words.

She nodded before answering with tears in her eyes, "thanks Dave.

"No thanks needed. I'm completely serious." Dave said before he leaned in to give her a much needed hug.

"It means a lot especially coming from you. You are one of the handful of people that knows not just the good and the bad of my life but also the ugly."

"Yes that's true but Emily you haven't allowed the bad or the ugly to define you. You should be proud of what you have accomplished and continue to accomplish. I'm honored to call you my friend and colleague. Just remember you have people around you that love you and are here for you. You aren't the only one who has had ugly in their past." Dave said.

Emily looked at him intently and could see pain in his eyes. It was clear that his words weren't only for her. It was rare that Dave opened up this much that Emily asked, mirroring the words that he had said to her 2 weeks earlier, "Do you want to talk about it? It may make you feel better."

Dave could see the sparkle in her eyes as she asking and gave a sad chuckle when he realized that she was repeating his own words. With his hand on her shoulder, he said, "maybe another time, kiddo. I haven't had nearly enough alcohol to tell anyone that story."

Emily tilted her head and looked at him concerned. She wanted to help him as he had helped her many times but understood not wanted to talk about a painful topic. "OK. Well I'm here if you ever want to talk."

"I know. I'm going to take off. My cab should be here in a couple minutes. Give your kids a kiss for me and get some sleep. It sounds like you are going to need to be well rested tomorrow." Dave said, chuckling as he mentioned about tomorrow.

Emily smiled as she thought about sparring with Morgan the next day, "Yeah, it will be worth it to see that smirk come off of Morgan's face."

All of the sudden a look flitted over her eyes and she dropped her shoulders and looked down before mumbling, "he played me again, didn't he?"

Dave laughed at her reaction to the realization about her earlier conversation with Morgan. If Emily had been 100%, he knew that she would have picked up immediately on what Morgan was trying to do. However, if she was 100%, her and Morgan probably wouldn't be going to the gym at 7:30 on a Sunday in the first place.

He shook his head and smiled at her as he said, "nope. He just knew how to get you to agree. Good night Emily." He gave her another hug before they started to walk towards the front door.

"Goodnight Dave." Emily said as he walked out the door towards his waiting cab.


	13. Chapter 13

**Here is the next chapter. Enjoy**

 **CHAPTER 13**

Emily walked slowly into the house through the garage door. Morgan had come back to the house with her so he could pick up his car. However, he was running late for a meeting with some friends who were collaborating on house flip with him so he didn't come in with her as he would generally do.

After dropping her bag outside the laundry room, she walked into the family room and collapsed onto the couch. Jack left the puzzle he was working on and came running up next to her.

"Mommy, mommy, are you OK?" he asked worriedly as he stood next to her.

Emily slowly turned her head so she was looking at Jack and gave him a small smile as she answered, "yes sweetheart. I was just at the gym training with Uncle Derek."

"Are you hurt?" he asked, looking at her with a concerned face that eerily looked similar to his dad's. He climbed up on the couch and moved to snuggle up next to her.

Emily wrapped her arm around him, "not hurt, just sore. Do you remember in soccer when your coach had you run and you were really tired but you had to run more to finish?"

Jack nodded and said as he looked over at her, "Yeah, I was really really tired and needed my water bottle."

"You remember you needed to sit down and rest for a few minutes before you wanted to do anything else." Emily said.

"Uh huh."

Emily flinched as she moved slightly before answering, "that's how I feel now. I'm not hurt. Just really tired and need to rest for a few minutes and drink some water." She paused and noticed that Jack has relaxed into her but still had a worried look on his face. After thinking for a minute, she knew what distract him from worrying about her. "I was thinking we should go on a walk later this afternoon."

Jack immediately perked up and looked at her with an excited smile as he said rapidly, "Yeah, can we get hot chocolate?"

Emily laughed internally knowing that she would get that reaction to a suggestion of going for a walk. Looking down at Jack's excited face, she gave him a thoughtful look before she said, "maybe. We'll ask Daddy."

Jack nodded and quickly scurried off the couch and ran out of the room yelling excitedly, "Daddy Daddy. Can we get hot chocolate this afternoon? Mommy says we need to check with you."

Emily smiled and closed her eyes as she relaxed into the couch. She could hear Aaron and Jack talking in the other room.

After a few minutes, she could hear Jack walking up the front stairs. She opened her eyes when she felt the couch next to her sink as Aaron sat down next to her and started stroking her hair.

"You OK?" He asked quietly.

Emily opened her eyes and looked at him before answering, "Yeah." She then moved slightly and grimaced before continuing, "Derek put me through the ringer. I ended up on my ass more times than I care to admit." She turned to him with a pouty look on her face.

Hotch chuckled at her pout before saying, "do you feel better?" It appeared to him that she was feeling lighter emotionally than she had been recently.

Emily took a deep breath and then looked at him with a smile, "actually mentally yeah. It's what I needed. I was able to forget about all the crap that's been going on recently." she stopped and sighed before continuing, "but I just wish that everything didn't hurt." When she turned to slightly face him, he didn't miss the wince as she moved.

Hotch leaned in and whispered to her, "everything? Even here?" as he placed a gentle chaste kiss on her lips.

Emily smiled at him as he pulled back before saying, "No there is fine."

"How about here?" He smiles and leaned back in closer to her. Pushing her hair out of the way, he kissed and sucked on the sensitive spot behind her ear. He sat back up, looking over at her expectantly.

Emily laughed and shook her head at his antics. "There is OK too."

Hotch gave her look as if he was deep in thought before he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "and here," before he started to kiss the pulse point her neck close to her collarbone.

As a moan escaped her, Emily whispered to him, "there is OK too." She reached up and as she ran her fingers through his hair, he reach around her back and drew her closer to him. The new position gave him a different angle and she said, "Oh god don't stop," momentarily not caring about the soreness in her body.

They heard movement upstairs and then all the sudden heard Jack yelling down from the top of the stairs, "Daddy, Mommy, Nat'le's awake and she smells really bad."

Hotch groaned as rested his forehead on Emily's shoulder. He hadn't planned on getting both of them worked up when he started kissing her. With Jack awake and Natalie set to wake from her morning nap at any time, there was a limit on what they could do at the moment. He had just planned on just teasing her.

Emily laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek as she said, "Well, that's a mood breaker. Raincheck?"

"Definitely." Hotch said as he moved away from her on the couch.

Slowly standing up from the couch after Hotch sat up, Emily said loudly, "OK, Jack. I'll be right up." As she said that, they could hear Jack running away from the stairs and back into the playroom.

Hotch stood up and put his hands on her shoulders, "No Em, I'll get her. Why don't you soak in the tub for a while?"

"Are you sure? I can get her." she asked hesitantly. As wonderful as soaking in the tub sounded right now, she felt that she should take over with the kids so that Aaron could have a break since he had been home with them all morning.

"Yes, I'm sure. I'll start the water before I get Natalie." Hotch said having seen the conflict in her eyes. He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. When he pulled back he could see her smile before she answered, "Sounds good. I'll be right up. Thanks Aaron." before he walked towards the stairs.

####

As planned, the Hotchners had taken a walk together stopping at Emily's favorite coffee shop and Jack could enjoy some hot chocolate while Aaron and Emily talked over coffee.

"How are you feeling?" Hotch asked as he watched Jack who was in the kid area that the coffee shop that was set up with drawing supplies.

"Better. The bath was a good idea. Less sore now though tomorrow morning won't be fun. I need to be in the office for that early meeting." Emily responded after she finished settling Natalie with a rattle in her stroller.

Hotch nodded. "OK. I'll drop you off before I go to that meeting with Michael Donovan."

Emily looked at him gratefully, "thanks for meeting with him. I can't reschedule this meeting again."

Hotch nodded understanding the realities of the job, "no problem. Unless a case comes up, my morning is open until conferencing at 10. That reminds me, he called while you were at the gym and asked for me to bring the originals of the receipts and appraisals. Where did you put them?"

Mr Donovan had called the previous week requesting a meeting to go over the status of the cases concerning the estates. As expected, Mr Sinclair was fighting their claim as well as stating items in the house were his which was why Mr Donovan needed the receipts and appraisals to prove that they were, in fact, part of the estate. Emily had sent over copies after she found them in the safety deposit box however with going to court, her lawyer needed the originals.

"They are in the document lockbox in a manila envelope. It should be right at the top."

"Ok, I'll get them out tonight."

####

Hotch was sitting at his desk in their home office working on signing off reports at his desk. As he finished the stack that needed to go to the office with him the next day, he stood up and opened his briefcase and placed them inside. He then took the files he was leaving at home and placed them in a desk drawer before locking it.

The kids were not allowed to go into their office unless Hotch and/or Emily was there and said it was ok. Will and JJ had a similar rule at their house. Even with the rule, Hotch and Emily agreed when they moved into the house to install a lock on the door as well as the drawers in both of their desks. They did not want any of the kids to go in one day for a piece of printer paper or a pencil or a good hiding place for hide and seek and see something they couldn't unsee.

As he was getting ready to leave the room and head to bed, Hotch remembered that the envelope that he needed for his meeting with the lawyer in the morning. Putting the briefcase down next to his desk, he walked over and opened the filebox where he and Emily kept all of their important personal documents. As promised, there was a manila envelope on top.

As he pulled the envelope out and verified its contents, Hotch didn't see another document fall out and onto the floor. Putting the briefcase up on Emily's desk, he opened it and placed the envelope in before closing it again.

When he turned back to close and lock the lockbox, he noticed the document that had fallen onto the floor. Leaning over, he picked it up, glancing at the top sheet as he moved to put it back into the lockbox.

Emily's adoption papers. He remembered her mentioning that they were one of the items in the safety deposit box. He had been away on a case when she went to the bank to open the safety deposit box and then went through all of the items that had been contained there.

As the lawyer in him became curious, he changed his mind about putting it back into the filebox and walked over to sit back down at his desk and paged through the document.

Since the day of the will reading, something wasn't sitting right with him about the whole situation though he hadn't had the opportunity to investigate yet.

Why was the document put somewhere that Emily's only living parent couldn't access it? Even Emily herself couldn't have accessed it until after her 30th birthday.

Then there was the Ambassador's assertion that she never agreed to the adoption which just didn't make sense. His inner profiler was telling him to look deeper.

As he paged through the paperwork, several items concerned him. While family law was not his specialty, the biggest red flag was that the phrasing in the document was more consistent with property law than the adoption of a child.

Turning to the last page, he looked at the signatures, noting the attorney and judge that handled the adoption. Looking at the names, he could feel the hairs standing up on the back of his neck.

He had seen these names before.

"I thought you were just finishing up and were going to come to bed in less than 20 minutes." Hotch jumped up as he heard Emily's voice in the doorway. As he looked at the clock, he realized that he had been looking at the document in front of him for the last 45 minutes.

Emily noticed that her husband had stopped paging through the papers in front of him and asked, "Aaron, are you OK? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Aaron turned to look over at his wife and then back down to the papers in front of him. If what he suspected was true, she would be devastated. And she had already been through so much in the last few weeks.

But they promised to not keep secrets from each other when they got married. When Emily had been distant after the will reading, he had felt helpless and didn't like the changed dynamics in their relationship. They had been working over the last couple of weeks to get back to a good place. And that had been her keeping her feeling to herself while now he was contemplating keeping information a secret from her. Information that directly concerned her. He didn't want secrets to be the new normal in their marriage.

But before telling her what he suspected, he needed to verify that it was actually the same people. Perhaps those involved the case he was thinking of just had similar names or it was the same people however they were involved in a completely different case.

There was no point on getting her upset only to find out he was wrong. But he didn't think he was because both last names were uncommon. That is why it immediately registered for him that he had seen the names before.

He needed to talk to Neil Anders tomorrow while he was at the office dropping off the documents for Mr Donovan. Hopefully he would be available. He could talk to Mr Donovan about it if needed however on something this important, he preferred to speak to the attorney with whom they had a longstanding relationship.

Hotch stood up and took the papers before walking over to his briefcase to place them inside. He was hoping that Emily hadn't seen what the document was. As he closed the case, he said, "I'm sorry Em. I was almost done about 45 minutes ago. It just a situation that I thought had been mostly resolved but now I have more questions and few answers until I talk to some people tomorrow."

Emily looked at him concerned wondering what case his team had gotten recently would have had a drastic turn to cause this nervous reaction in her usually unflappable husband. Walking up next to him, she asked, "Is it anything you want to talk about? Anything I can help with?"

Hotch shook his head and placed his briefcase by the door. He then said gently, "It's not anything you can help with, at least not tonight. We aren't going to talk about this tonight." He noticed that the worried look was still on her face.

Emily frowned, knowing that he was keeping something from her. She asked, "Are you sure nothing is wrong Aaron?"

He took her still worried face in between his hands and gave her a short kiss before he moved back though still holding her face. Looking her in the eyes, he said calmly, "I promise I'll let you know if there is anything to worry about. But for now, we are going to bed. It's already late, you're tired and we need to get an early start in the morning so you can be at your meeting"

Any chance she had of objecting was eliminated by a yawn. He wrapped his arm around her and they walked out of the office. After closing and locking the door, they walked to their bedroom.

Emily was still not at ease as they got ready for bed. Unfortunately his assurances did nothing to alleviate her concerns that something was very wrong.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my mistakes.**

 **CHAPTER 14**

As Derek Morgan stepped off the elevator, he slowly walked across the foyer and entered the bullpen through the glass doors. As he headed towards his desk, he took in the mostly empty bullpen.

Looking up at Hotch's office, he could see that the light was still off. He smiled since there was a time when Hotch would be in the office before everyone else and still be there when the rest of the team left for the night.

But today, he would be the last one into the office. Hotch had asked him on Friday afternoon to be the contact person for the team until he arrived from his off site meeting. Hotch's estimate had been he would arrive in time for conferencing with the team. Being the team's contact person was the reason Morgan was in this early. He didn't know the whole story about where Hotch was this morning but from the tone of that conversation, he was sure it had something to do with Emily.

As he smiled as he thought of Emily and their gym session the day before. When Emily had been on the team, they had worked out together on a regular basis.

Once she announced she was pregnant with Natalie, they changed how they approached their workout sessions and he had suggested a workout routine for her that he had designed when JJ was pregnant with Henry.

After Caitlin and Natalie were born, Morgan had worked with both Emily and JJ to get them back in shape. However, as the time got closer to them returning from their respective leaves, Morgan had needed to prioritize working with JJ so she could be cleared to return to the field with the rest of the team.

He had regretted needing to make the choice but Emily had waved off his concern and reassured him that she was keeping up with his recommended program.

And it had become clear as they worked through their workout the day before that Emily had been diligent in getting herself back into shape. After a awkward start, their session closely matched what their workouts were like before Emily's pregnancy.

When they got to the hand to hand portion of their workout, Morgan did not hold back on riling her up. One of his motivations for this session was to get her out of her head. After throwing her a few times, he taunted her, it resulted in Emily reacting and then refocusing on the task at hand. By the time they finished, he had found himself on the mat and even pinned which is not something that he happened very often.

His other motivation was having heard the details from Hotch on Saturday, he knew if he wanted to maintain the dynamic of their friendship, he couldn't start treating her differently. They had been partners. They had always challenged each other. He respected her as a strong capable badass agent in the field and in the office. If he changed that, there was no doubt in his mind that Emily would notice and it would fundamental change their friendship, perhap ending it as they knew it.

He was also concerned if he started to treat her differently, it would have her questioning herself even more than he could see she already was. She needed him to remain someone who was going to push her and challenge her.

And challenge her is something he was going to do again today. What he had in mind would hopefully goad her into coming over to the bullpen again and socialize with all of them. He had missed his friend over the last couple of weeks.

A short time later, the rest of the team had arrived and were working quietly at their desks while Dave was in his office doing whatever it was that Dave did in his office. None of them were exactly sure what he did in there though each of them had a theory.

Taking in the group, Morgan grinned. He knew as soon as he said what he planned one of his colleagues would be texting Emily to let her know what he bet. Once she heard, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before she came over to prove him wrong and he said,

"Fifty bucks that when Prentiss comes in today, she whines about being sore and is limping." he looked over and took in the looks he was getting from his colleagues.

Seeing the confused look on Blake's face having not been there on Saturday. "What happened to her Derek?"

"We went to the gym yesterday." As he said it, he could see Spencer trying to type inconspicuously on his phone.

Bingo.

He had predicted that it would be Spencer or JJ that would let her know.

"Oh yes you did. How did it go? Were you nice to my gumdrop?" Garcia inquired.

"Of course I nice to her. It's not my fault how many times she landed on her ass," he said chuckling. As he turned around in his chair he saw a warning look from JJ.

Morgan had noticed that Hotch had stopped her from interrupting on Saturday and she wasn't immediately objecting to the bet. He could only assume that Hotch had filled her in on what he was doing or JJ would be bristling at his comments about her friend. Though he knew from experience that understanding would also get him so much latitude. Taking in the narrowing of her eye, Morgan could see that maybe the last part was too much.

After a few minutes, the others had given their bets. He laughed to himself when Spencer's bet was Emily would be fine when she came over to the bullpen. Since he was the one to contact her, he took that bet as evidence that Emily was going to be making an appearance and that she was going to be trying her best to act like she was completely fine.

Success.

####

As Hotch was driving them to the office, Emily still felt uneasy about his sudden preoccupation the previous evening. All she knew is that whatever it was started in their office and seemed to involve a document. She wished at this point that she had gotten a look at the document before he placed it in his briefcase after she came into the room.

After they had gone to bed he had held her as he usually did as they slept, she could still feel his distance. As tired as she was, she couldn't get her mind to slow down enough to sleep for hours. As she laid there, she could tell he was also having difficulty falling asleep.

Generally, when they both couldn't sleep, Aaron would encourage them to get up and talk through whatever it was though most times it was a case. But last night he hadn't and they both just stay in bed ignoring that the other was also awake. It was clear that whatever was going on, he didn't want to talk to her about it.

Yet.

Last night he mentioned it was about a case and that he needed to talk to others today. It had been late and they were both tired. Not really the best time to start a conversation about work topics. But then why not talk when neither of them were sleeping?

Glancing over at him, Emily could see the fatigue and worry on his face and internally chastised herself. She was overthinking the situation.

She sighed and shook her head. It wasn't like her to be insecure in her relationship with Aaron. It was just that finding out she was adopted and then to hear about the lies that the Ambassador had been sharing about her under the guise of being her mother had shook her to her foundation.

She had never been close with the Ambassador and in recent years had only seen her when absolutely necessary. Initially Emily's reaction to her death had been full of what-ifs and what-could-have-beens and regrets at having not being able to be the daughter the Ambassador could be proud of.

Then over the next few days with her stepfather's attitude and then the revelations in the lawyers' office, it had become clear to her that no matter what she did, the Ambassador wouldn't have been proud of her. And out of everything, that had been the hardest realization and a bitter pill to swallow.

As she had come to accept it, the Ambassador's death had been upsetting in the same way as that of an acquaintance. Being a parent was not a role that the Ambassador had really ever filled and as she had recently learned, did not want, at least where Emily was concerned.

But the betrayal that Emily felt made her question everyone and everything in her life, at least briefly. If the person she had considered a mother for 31 years could say all those things, where did that leave her relationships with everyone else in her life?

Aaron hadn't given her any reason to doubt what he said about what he was working on last night. He had been so supportive with everything that had been happening the last few weeks. Hell, even today he was dropping her off at the office for her meeting and then going to meet with their lawyers about the estates.

She needed to trust that he would explain what the case was about when he was ready. It was just hard because she couldn't get past the feeling that it was personal.

As she was considering starting a conversation, her phone buzzed with an incoming text message. Taking out her phone, she pulled up the message and huffed.

"What is it?" Hotch said as he looked over at her concerned.

Emily shakes her head and says, "a message from Spencer. Apparently Derek is in the bullpen accepting bets that when I come into to visit them today, I will complain about being sore and be limping. He is telling them how he kept taking me down in training yesterday."

Hotch smiles slightly. Even if she couldn't see it, he recognized this bet was Morgan's way of building on his attempts to bring Emily out of the fog she had been surrounded by over the last few weeks. Their friendship of bets and challenges concerned him at times, however right now, he was appreciative of Morgan's efforts and the positive affect it was having on Emily so far, "So what are going to do? You are sore and do have a slight limp."

Emily sighed before answering as she continued to type on her phone, "I know. I know. But I can't let Morgan win."

Hotch smiled and shook his head at her rationale though not surprised at all by it. "Are you going to stay out of the bullpen today?" he asked however he was already sure that she would go over as soon as she could.

"Can't or he'll use it as proof that he's right. No I think I'll wait until ibuprofen has taken effect and then go over to drop off their cases acting as if nothing happened. And if I just happen to slap him on the shoulder that he landed hard on yesterday when I flipped him, then he should be OK being the tough guy that he is." Emily said, shrugging her shoulders.

Hotch smiled and looked over briefly at his wife who looked more relaxed then when they had left home. "Try not to hurt him too much. I may need him in the field if we get a case."

"I'll try but no promises."

####

It was late morning and Emily was heading back to her office after taking files over to the bullpen and visiting the team. As expected everyone was watching her closely to see if there was any substance behind Morgan's bet.

After handing over the files, she sat on the edge of Spencer's desk as she was sure she would wince when standing back up if she had sat on one of the chairs offered. She stayed for a few minutes to talk as she had frequently done until a couple of weeks earlier and happily accepted the cup of coffee Garcia offered.

As she was getting ready to head back to her office, she responded to another of Morgan's taunts with a quick playful swat and squeeze of his shoulder. He shook his head as the team openly laughed at him when he winced because the shoulder was a bit sore.

When he looked over at her, Emily smirked at him before they clinked their coffee mugs as she gave him a knowing look. She was letting him know that she knew about his bet. He smiled back at her and gave her a hug because her finding out had always been his goal.

As she headed back to her office with her share of Reid's winnings from the bet, she wondering what was keeping Aaron. When she had arrived in the bullpen she immediately noticed that his office light was still off and the door was closed. When she saw where Emily gaze was, Blake had mentioned that he had not been in yet.

Now Emily was concerned. The meeting with the lawyer was suppose to be brief. All Aaron was suppose to have needed to do is hand over to Mr Donovan the envelope of originals and be briefed on the status of the court proceedings.

They had estimated that the whole meeting should have lasted 45 minutes maximum. Now here it was 2 hours later and he still wasn't at the office. He would have called or texted if the delay was something urgent and he hadn't. She would just need to check in with him that evening.

She sighed as she suddenly felt guilty that he had gone to this meeting for her and it was taking longer than expected. She remembered that he needed to talk to multiple people about this case that he was stressing over the previous night. He had anticipated he would get back in enough time for his scheduled meetings as well.

When she got back to her office, she had no sooner sat down at her desk when there was a knock at the door. When the door opened at her greeting, she noticed it was Steven Walker.

"Do you have a minute?" Walker asked nervously.

Emily smiled and waved him into her office. "For you, of course." She then waited for him to settle in a chair across from her desk, curious about why her agent was acting nervous.

As he settled in his chair, he took a deep breath and then said, "I just want to give you a heads up. Agent Wills approached me this morning and offered me a place on his team. Apparently one of his agents is taking the open spot on the New York City team which has left them with an opening."

Emily nodded and then said, "Is this the team that you want?"

Steven took a deep breath and then nodded, "Yes. As you know I wanted my next assignment to be in counterterrorism. I have worked on cases with his team during my training and have been impressed with how they work. I hope to add to their team with my profiler training. And his team doesn't regularly travel which will keep me in Monica's good graces."

Emily laughed having met his wife and kids. Throughout his training this was one of the teams that she had been hoping Steven would find a spot. It was a solid team within CTU with a strong leader. She felt that he would mesh well with the other members of the team.

She hated to lose him however that was how her team worked in that agents were only temporarily assigned to it. At least she knew he was going where he wanted and would have room to grow as a CTU analyst and a profiler. It was a win-win as far as she was concerned.

"He does have a great team and he is a solid leader. That is why I had you work with them whenever the opportunity arose. I'll work with him on your transition and getting the paperwork done. Congratulations Steven." Emily said as she signed the transfer papers he had handed her. As she held them out for him, she said, "please don't be a stranger." She stood up and walked over to him to give him a hug.

Steven had come to her team at the end of her pregnancy. Something that she had always appreciated about him was his flexibility. As she and then JJ went out on leave, he had been instrumental is working with each of the agents who were covering the various responsibilities of her team. He was also able to help with smoothing out some of the ruffled feathers that Callahan had caused and giving her a heads up that Marshall was struggling.

As she slowly transitioned back to duty, she had made sure that he had opportunities with Cooper's team and various team within CTU once he had completed the profiling basics in the BAU. With CTU being his goal, he was with her team longer than average since he needed to learn the basics of profiling along with the various differences that needed to be considered within the CTU realm. Now she was certain that he had the tools to be successful in his new position. While she was sad to see him go, she thought this was the best outcome for what he wanted to do.

"I won't. It's been an honor and privilege to work with you Emily. Take care and I hope everything works out for you. There are a couple of great agents out there who are ready to step up even if they aren't quite sure yet about being ready." Steven said as he gestured towards the door where Alvez and Lewis were working.

She nodded at his accurate assessment of her two newest agents who were steadily moving along in their training and would shortly start working with the other BAU teams more often.

"I know. They are both strong agents and will be great profilers. I actually just met with the instructor of the profiling courses at the Academy this morning. I have a couple of names of agents who are ready to come over to the team so your spot won't be empty for long. Don't worry about us. You go to CTU and amaze them." With Walker transferring and Alvez and Lewis moving along in their training, Emily was hoping she could convince Strauss to have both agents she had discussed with the instructor come over to her team at the same time.

"Thanks Emily." Walker said as he walked out the door.

 **AN: I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I have already started writing it. In that chapter Hotch talks to a few people about his suspicions and a disturbing picture starts to emerge.**


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER 15**

Hotch sat in his car after coming out of his lawyers' office. As he glanced at the clock, he could see he was barely going to make it back to the BAU in time for conferencing. However, even noticing that, he couldn't get himself to move.

Since he had found Emily adoption papers the previous evening, he had been anxious about what he was going to discover when started asking questions.

He thought he was ready for whatever answers he would receive. Planned on quietly returning the adoption papers to the lockbox when he arrived home before Emily would realized they were even missing once he clear up his confusion.

But he hadn't been wrong. Unfortunately he had just gotten confirmation from Mr Anders that he was in fact correct.

As ready as he thought he had been for the information Mr Anders had given him, he was unsure now where this path would take them.

When he arrived at the law office, he had met with Mr Donovan for their scheduled meeting. As expected their meeting had been short and straightforward.

After giving him the envelope with the receipts and appraisals, Mr Donovan reviewed the status of their court cases. In addition to the estates, he was also updating him about the suits against family attorneys.

When Mr Donovan had gone to court the week after the will reading, the judge had agreed to the delay requested by Emily's stepfather since he had needed to find a new lawyer.

While in court, Mr Donovan had filed requests to start the process of eviction for Mr Sinclair from the Prentiss family home and another that prevented him from removing any of the furnishings. That request had been filed when Mr Sinclair claimed everything inside the house belonged to him.

Mr Donovan was planning to present the receipts and appraisals as evidence to refute Mr Sinclair's assertion about the ownership of all of the house's furnishings.

He also informed Hotch that they had finally had made progress with holding the Prentiss family attorneys accountable for their actions or in this case, inactions.

The day after the will reading they had contact Mr Donovan to offer a settlement for their errors. What they offered, while generous, was binding and had included an NDA which only resulted in infuriating Hotch and Emily. They quickly refused, not wanting the firm to be able to sweep the incident under the rug.

The same week Mr Donovan had filed a complaint with the court concerning their negligence in their position as trustees. The first hearing had occurred a few days later and the judge had been less than impressed with their conduct. The next hearing was this week as well.

This was in addition to the complaint that Hotch was in the process of filing with the Virginia Bar Association.

And last not not least, Emily had spoken to the FBI's White Collar Crime Unit about investigating the firm. They had started their investigation the previous week to determine if what happened to the Hotchners was a one time oversight or an ongoing pattern of fraud within the firm.

They concluded their meeting after Mr Donovan had shared the court schedule for the week along with the promise to keep them updated. The two men shook hands before Hotch walked out of his office.

Arriving back at the main reception desk, he asked the receptionist to let Neil Anders know he was there.

While Emily had been in the shower that morning, he had sent a message to Mr Anders requesting an urgent meeting when he had time available mentioning when his meeting time with Mr Donovan was that morning. Mr Anders had responded that he was working in his office in the morning and to have them alert him when Hotch was ready and he would make the time.

After greeting each other with a handshake, Mr Anders escorted Hotch back to his office. After he sat down at his desk and Hotch took a seat in one of the chairs across from the desk, Mr Anders asked, "What can I do for you this morning Aaron?"

Hotch looked at him nervously before asking, "I wanted to know what you could tell me about the trial of Henry McRae and Peter Howard?"

Mr Anders looked up at him surprised as he asked, "Where did you come across those names? As far as I know,they are both still in prison and have no possibility of parole."

Hotch sighed before he answered, "I remember the names from when I worked in the federal prosecutor's office. I need confirmation that they are parties in the case I believe they are involved."

Mr Anders paused and took a close look at Hotch. A couple of minutes later, he shook his head as he had been unable to gleam from the profiler's face what his interest in this particular case was before he answered, "of course. McRae was a family court judge and Howard was a lawyer that specialized in private adoptions. I don't recall which state they were licensed and practiced in. They, along with others, were both convicted for a series of charges including kidnapping, human trafficking, conspiracy, falsifying documents, fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering. The case was federal ,in part, because the child victims were from multiple states. Is this the case that you anticipated?"

As he spoke, Mr Anders could see the man in front of him become pale and very still.

"Unfortunately. I was hoping that was misremembering." Hotch answered quietly.

He then pulled his briefcase up on his lap and opened it. After checking the document on top that it was the correct one, he handed it to Mr Anders. Mr Anders looked back at him confused as he took the document and begun to read it. Hotch could tell the moment he realized what he was reading when his brow shot up and he looked up at Hotch before looking back down at the document.

After a few minutes, he reached the last page and gasped as the answer to why Hotch had asked the question was staring back at him when he saw the names and signatures listed on the page.

Looking back up at Hotch, he asked concerned, "Does she know?"

Hotch shook his head before he said, "Not yet. I saw the document last night for the first time. I wanted to get confirmation before telling her because I didn't want to worry her unnecessarily." Hotch paused and took a few deep breaths before continuing, "Emily is also going to want details and I don't know what to tell her."

Mr Anders looked down at his desk before suddenly looking back up at Hotch as he said, "It was a member of your team investigating a kidnapping that finally broke into the whole operation and that led to their arrest."

"Do you remember who it was?" Hotch asked hopefully. This case would have been before his time at the BAU but depending on who handled it, he may be able to talk to that person to get more information

Shaking his head, Mr Anders responded, "I don't. I only remember it because it was the first time I had heard of profiling and the FBI's department."

"OK. I'll check when I get back to the office."

"Before you leave, we should let Michael know. My understanding is he is going into court this week. I don't want him blindsided if it is brought up."

"Understood. I wasn't trying to keep it from him. I wanted to confirm it with you first."

####

Hotch had arrived back at the BAU slightly late for conferencing and had just gone directly to the conference room. The meeting at the lawyer's office had taken longer than expected because of the added meeting with Mr Anders.

When he arrived in the conference room, the team had already gathered and were still laughing about Emily's visit.

As soon as they saw him, Dave quipped that he had just missed his better half which instantly had the group burst into another peal of laughter.

Once she had calmed down enough, Garcia then recounted what happened when Emily had come over to visit earlier.

It was clear from the reactions that the team was happy to have her visiting them again at work.

With an already late start for conferencing, Hotch quickly had them switch gears to get to work once Garcia finished her story.

####

Later that day as Hotch was walking back to the BAU after a meeting, he saw Sam Cooper walking down the hall coming towards him. When Cooper started to turn when he reached an intersection, Hotch called out to him, "Cooper".

Cooper stopped and looked around before spotting Hotch. He gave a small wave and walked over to where Hotch was standing before saying, "Hey Hotch, how are things going on your team?"

"We're doing well. Busy. But it seems we all are."

Cooper chuckled before saying, "true. We just got back into town last night from Oregon. I'm hoping we can get through the weekend before getting called out again. So how is that little baby of yours? I've heard she looks just like her mom."

Hotch smiled back at him, "She is doing well and yes she is a carbon copy of Emily."

"In that case, you may just need both of your guns." Both men laughed as Hotch knew Cooper spoke from experience having teenage daughters at home.

"And the shotgun we have at home." Hotch answered though he knew that he wouldn't be the only one in line if anyone ever hurt his little girl.

Hotch thought back to why he stopped Cooper in the first place before asked, hoping the other profiler had time to meet, "Cooper, do you have a couple of minutes?"

Cooper smiled and gestured to the hallway that he had started to go down that led to the office space his team used, "sure, I'm just supposed to be finishing the paperwork from this last case but we both know how I feel about paperwork."

Hotch laughed before saying, "Strauss won't be upset if it's late." It was a tongue in cheek comment because it was well known that somehow Cooper could work the same magic over Strauss that Dave could about delays in paperwork being OK. Magic that apparently only the two of them possessed.

Cooper smirked and waved off the comment, "Nah, she loves me." as they had reached Cooper's office. Cooper walked over and sat down at the table at the side of the room and pointed at another chair for Hotch. "What can I help you with Hotch?"

Hotch sat in the chair Cooper had pointed out before he said, "It's a question about a case from before I came to the BAU. Someone from the team broke the case and I am looking to find out who."

Cooper nodded and said, "I'll help if I can but it's been a few years and I was off the team for a while when I was working with the taskforce. Have you looked it up in the database?"

Hotch shook his head, "Not yet but it would be in the archived records. I thought I'd ask since I ran into you."

Cooper cocked his head and gave Hotch a long look taking in the other man's serious demeanor, "That old huh. What's the case?" Cooper stood up and walked over to his bookshelf looking over a series of books that appeared to be logs from the writing on the outside.

Since Dave had come back to the team, every time Hotch was in Cooper's office he had wondered how Cooper, Gideon and Dave had peaceful coexisted in the one room bunker that had, until about 7 years earlier, housed the team.

Cooper's office was always organized but cluttered. He claimed to have a filing system though no one understood it. However when asked he had always been able to produce whatever was being asked of him promptly.

Gideon's office on a good day had always been an organized mess that quickly transitioned to a complete mess when he was stressed or obsessed with a case. More than once he had been at a loss as to where certain items had ended up in his office.

This was directly in contrast to Dave's office in which everything had a place and everything was always in its place. After rejoining the team, he had quickly designated a small table near the door of his office for incoming files and document to be placed instead of directly on his highly organized desk. This had led to the team speculating about their new member that included at at one point Emily's amusing description of him as a 'fussy anal retentive neat freak.'

Once again being back in Cooper's office Hotch wished he could have been a fly on the wall during that time in the BAU's history. It would have been rich profiling information to see how they had interacted on a daily basis.

Hotch shook off the random thoughts as he noticed Cooper looking at him expectantly before answering, "It was a kidnapping case that involved a judge and an adoption lawyer."

Cooper stopped and looked back at Hotch before shaking his head, "That doesn't ring a bell with me. Was it kidnapping of kids?"

"Yes."

Cooper walked back to the table and sat back down in his seat, "In that case, it would have been either Katie or Jason. Cases involving kids were always assigned to one of the two of them. At least when I was on the team."

Hotch sighed at the answer. If it was Gideon that worked that case, he would have to consider talking to the case agent a dead end. No one had heard from Gideon since he left the team a few years earlier and disappeared. "OK. Thanks."

Cooper noticed his dejected demeanor and wondered what the deal was with this case that closed at least 10 years ago, "Have you asked Dave? He was with the team longer than I was." He found it unusual that Hotch would come to him when his office was about 30 feet from Dave's and the timeframe coincided with the time Dave was with the team before his retirement.

Hotch nodded, expecting the question, "Not yet. When I started with the BAU I learned early he didn't work cases with kids. I thought you may have." Cooper nodded sadly at Hotch comment as he knew why Dave hadn't worked cases with kids.

While this was true, that wasn't completely the reason. Hotch was trying to avoid having Dave or anyone from the team finding out what he was investigating right now, especially until he could talk to Emily about it.

The team knew about Emily's adoption and if they learned that Hotch was asking questions about a closed case involving a judge and adoption lawyer, it wasn't going to be a huge leap to put together why he was interested in this case.

While they would most likely eventually be sharing what Hotch found with the team, he wanted to talk to Emily first as well as gather some background information.

"Do you know Katie? I know she left before you started." Cooper asked realizing that asking Gideon for information would not be possible.

Hotch sighed before answering, "We've met a few times and the team worked a case with Crimes Against Children a few years ago with her team."

Hotch had gained a great deal of respect for SSA Katie Cole during the case they had worked together a few years earlier. He had already decided to call her when he got back to his office.

Hotch stood up as Cooper said, "Wish I could be more help. If you don't have luck with Rossi or the database, contact Katie. Hope you find what you are looking for."

They shook hands and Hotch walked out and headed back to his office.

####

Hotch hung his phone and groaned. His call to SSA Katie Cole's office had resulted in him needing to leave a message because she was out in the field.

He sat back in his seat frustrated that he hadn't been able to make any progress on finding out more about this case. He was heading home in 4 hours and needed to have something to tell Emily when he talked that evening.

He then looked at the ever growing pile of BAU paperwork that he hadn't even touched today. Given he didn't share the same magic that Dave and Cooper did with Strauss, he knew it was just a matter of time before she started calling inquiring about when he was going to be sending over his team's completed files.

But today he couldn't worry about that. He did have the files he had worked on the previous evening that he could send her. He would try to power through this pile this afternoon.

But he had one more person to talk to who may be able locate the files with information he could use. But he was going to go down to the 4th floor and scare the crap out of Kevin by showing up unexpectedly in his office. From their interactions, Hotch knew that just his mere presence had the fashion challenged tech geek shaking all the way down to his sandal covered feet.

It wasn't a secret that Kevin was intimidated by him. Most of the time, Hotch only used that power to keep him out of Garcia's office when the team needed her working on BAU business.

But today, he was going to have Kevin run the search for him after making him promise not to tell Garcia or anyone else from the team what he was searching for.

As with talking to Cooper instead of Dave, Hotch needed someone with the skills to locate the case file he needed in the archived records but wasn't a member of the team. He knew from experience that Garcia could do it. It would make sense that Kevin would also be able to access the files he needed.

####

It was 5:30 when Hotch looked up from the clock after spending the last 3 hours working on his inbox. He was pleased at the progress he made and hope Strauss wouldn't notice that it was less than what he generally submitted.

He put his briefcase up on the desk and took out the files he had put in the evening before to send off to Strauss along with what he completed this afternoon.

He had a stack of files to put in his briefcase to take home but then shook his head and put them back in his inbox. After the kids went to bed, he and Emily needed to talk about what he found. There was no chance after that particular conversation that he was going to walk away from her to go sign off files for work. She was going to need him after what he needed to tell her.

Kevin had been somewhat successful in the searches earlier. Hotch now had some basic information about the cases surrounding the pairs' arrest and well as a breakdown of their operation that he did place in his briefcase. Kevin had said he was going to keep working on finding the entire case file and that he would forward it to Hotch when he did.

Hotch also placed in his briefcase the information he received from a former colleague who still worked in the prosecutor's office. It was a fairly short but comprehensive summary however Hotch was sure he could get the whole file if they wanted to see it.

With that he looked around his office as he closed his briefcase. Picking it up he walked over to the door and turned out the light before walking out the open doorway. Pulling the door closed behind him, he walked down the stairs noticing the lone bullpen occupant. Saying good night to Morgan who was starting to pack up to leave, we walked out the glass doors to meet Emily near the elevators.

 **AN: Katie Cole was a character in S2 episode 02(P911). In the next chapter, Hotch and Emily talk and decide how to proceed. I will post the chapter as soon as it's ready though I've barely started it. I'm hoping next week.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter posted. Hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **CHAPTER 16**

That evening, Emily sat in Natalie's room rocking her to sleep while humming a lullaby. Looking down at her young daughter, she ran her fingers over the infant's soft dark curls as Natalie lost her battle against sleep. Feeling the infant's sucks wane, Emily gently pulled her nipple out of the infant's mouth before easing her shirt down.

Cuddling her daughter, Emily continued to rock, wanting the infant to be completely asleep before attempting to transfer her to the crib. She had learned the hard way that an irritated accidentally woken Natalie was 10x harder to get back to sleep.

Leaning her head back on the chair and closing her eyes as she continued rocking, Emily thought back over the day.

When she had stopped back over at the bullpen after meeting with her team to check with Aaron about going to lunch, Blake had mentioned that he had left 30 minutes earlier for a meeting.

Reid had then interjected that he had arrived that morning about 15 minutes after she had left, arriving just as they were starting conferencing. Noticing her expression, he asked if she wanted to go down to the cafeteria with them. Realized it had been a while since she had eaten lunch with the team, Emily agreed to join them.

Shortly after all of them sat down at a table Emily got a call about an incoming consult. Before she left, JJ had offered to take the sandwich and bottle of water Emily had bought for Hotch to his office when she returned to the bullpen. After saying goodbye to her friends, she took her lunch up to her office to eat while reviewing the new consult.

Then in the late afternoon, she had stopped by Garcia's office so she, Garcia and JJ could make concrete plans for the long overdue girl's day, planned for the upcoming Saturday, work permitting as always.

When she arrived at Garcia's office a few minutes early, she immediately noticed Kevin was there debating something with Garcia. That was until he became eerily quiet and became pale when she greeted them. A few seconds later, he told Garcia he needed to leave and quickly circled around Emily being careful not to walk too close to her as he made a beeline for the door, mumbling something about searches and kids.

She had then spent the next 10 minutes trying to convince Garcia that she hadn't threatened Kevin again. Geez you threaten a guy once and now every time he is acting nervous, it was her fault.

However, Emily still felt she had been completely justified in having chewed him out that day.

She had gone to Garcia's office for her to run some searches having forgot that Kevin was covering while Penelope had been at the NSA for the week attending an interagency conference.

As she had waddled her 8 month pregnant self into the office, she missed the jacket that was lying on the floor and the pair of shoes that were hiding under the jacket. After tripping when she stepped on it, Emily was barely able to catch herself on the edge of a desk before she hit the floor.

After catching her breath, she lit into him about the complete state of chaos of Garcia's office. In addition to the jacket and shoes, just about every available surface was covered with coffee mugs, to go cups and take out containers. Stacks of various files were piled up in a few places on the floor as were various manuals.

She had told him that it was an FBI office and not a frat house, temporarily forgetting she was describing Garcia's colorful and eccentric office as such.

Walking up to him, she quietly said that he was going to step away from the computer games and return Garcia's office to its normal pristine level of cleanliness. That she would be back in 2 hours and if it wasn't done, well then she'd decide at that point what to do with him. He gulped and nodded his head before she had walked out the door, forgetting why she had gone there in the first place.

Not surprisingly, when she got back to the office 2 hours later, the office was cleaned up and Kevin had just finished vacuuming the carpet. Emily had stared at him for a couple of minutes before nodding and told him not to let it happen again.

However, she didn't know what his problem was today. JJ had arrived during Garcia interrogating her and couldn't hide her amusement by their banter. After they refocused on the reason they were all there, they quickly decided to have a spa day as they all felt the need to relax after a stressful month.

That settled, Emily headed back to her office for the rest of the mostly uneventful afternoon before leaving to ride home with Aaron.

In the car, she immediately noticed that deep furrows on his brow that usually meant he was worried. Along with that he was still as quiet and pensive as he had been that morning. Just as she was going to ask, her phone rang.

It was the mayor of the town for the consult that she had taken at lunchtime. The initial consult request had been from the town's police chief with whom she had spoken to earlier in the afternoon. She reiterated to the mayor what she had told the police chief about the consult process.

As they finished their call, she made sure that he had the name and contact information for the Unit Chief whose team had been assigned the case. After she hung up, she quickly texted that Unit Chief to give him a heads up about the call. As she looked up from her phone after sending the text, Emily noticed that they had just pulled into the driveway which extinguished any opportunity to ask him.

Emily's eyes popped open and was brought out of her musing when she heard a noise in the room. Looking around she could see that Aaron had opened the door and stepped into the room. He walked over towards her and whispered, "Is she asleep?"

Emily nodded and leaned down to give Natalie a kiss on her forehead. After she sat back up, Hotch leaned over and picked up the sleeping infant and gave her a kiss before placing her in the crib.

Stepping back from the crib, he walked back over to the chair and held out his hand which Emily took before she stood up.

After they walked out of the room together, Hotch stopped and waited until Emily looked up at him.

When she did, he said nervously, "Em, we need to talk."

Taking in his tone and serious demeanor, she answered quietly, "That sounds ominous. What's going on, Aaron?"

He placing his hand on her lower back leading down the stairs and into the family room. As they walked into the room, Emily sat down in an armchair while Hotch on the couch next to her.

Looking down at the carpet in front of him, Hotch sighed. Raising his eyes, he looked at her and answered slowly, "It's concerning what I was looking at in the office last night before you came looking for me."

Emily cocked her head before answering, "You looked worried."

"I was and honestly still am."

Emily leaned over and took his hand in hers. The profiler could see that whatever was going with this case was deeply affecting her husband, "What case is it? I've tried racking my brain and I can't think of any recent ones that would affect you like this."

Hotch squeezed her hand and shook his head, "It's not a recent case. When I went into the lockbox last night to take the envelope with the documents I needed for the meeting with the lawyers today, I found your adoption papers."

"You knew they were in there. I told you they were in the safety deposit box with the other items." Emily said with a growing edge on her voice.

Hotch nodded having heard the edge in her voice, "yes but it was the first time that I saw them and as a lawyer, I decided to look through them since there had been a lot of unanswered questions that have come up since that day in the lawyers' office."

Emily stared at him and then shrugged before saying, "I don't mind you looking at them. I even told you they were there. But that doesn't explain why you lied to me about looking at a case last night. Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

As she said it, she tried to pull her hand out of his however Hotch tightened his grasp on her hand. He sighed thinking he should have started this conversation a different way. He looked down and took some deep breaths, realizing he needed to get them back on track because what he needed to tell her was going to be hard enough.

"I did tell you the truth Emily. That is what has me concerned."

Emily huffed at him though Hotch was relieved she stopped trying to pull her hands out of his. She then said with her voice a mixture of confusion and irritation, "I don't understand. First you said it was a case. Then you said it was my adoption papers and now we are back to it being a case. Which is it Aaron?"

"It's both. I'm sorry for putting you off earlier." Hepaused before continuing, "I thought I recognized names in the document and I wanted to verify it was the same people before I said anything. With everything you have been through recently, I didn't want to upset you unnecessarily."

"Who are these people? What did they do?"

Hotch squeezed her hands and waited until Emily was looking at him before calmly starting, "OK, I need to start at the beginning so please bear with me so I can explain how I first came across these names."

After Emily nodded, he explained, "before I joined the FBI, I worked in a federal prosecutor's office here in Virginia." Hotch took a deep breath and continued. "When I started, the DA had just started trying a huge case. The prosecutors' office had been working on the prep for 2 years after the arrest a judge, a lawyer and a social worker. They are the same three listed on your adoption papers." As he said the last part, her eyes met his with a look of shock.

"What were the charges?" Emily asked slow and measured, starting the realized why her husband was acting worried.

Hotch took a deep breath before he answered, "they were arrested for illegal adoption practices, falsifying documents, conspiracy, fraud, trafficking of infants and toddlers, and kidnapping among other federal charges as well as charges in multiple states. That along with there being a judge accused is what put it in federal jurisdiction."

Emily looked up at him with a look of horror on her face, "What? What are you saying? Was I was kidnapped?"

He shook his head as he said, "I don't know. When I first saw the names last night, that what I thought because that was the part that I remembered from the case. A kidnapping is how they were eventually caught however from what I had read in the information I've gathered today that isn't how they started. As they were investigated for thatkidnapping, the totality of their operation came to light."

Hotch stood up and walked over to where he had left his briefcase after Jack fell asleep because he wanted Emily to see the information he had gathered today. After placing it on the table in front of them, he opened it and took out her adoption papers and handed them to her after turning the signature page. He then pulled out the document from the prosecutor's office as well as the information that Kevin had forwarded to him.

Handing all of it to Emily, he sat back on the couch. From experience he knew that Emily needed to go through all of the document and information herself. It was the process that she needed to go through to try and make all of the chaos in front of her make some semblance of sense.

Although the information he had given her was in no way comprehensive it was a start and he hoped to have more details in the days to come.

After about 10 minutes, Emily asked without looking up, "You started as a prosecutor, what 10 years ago?"

"It was 11 years ago when I started and, from the reports, they were arrest 2 years before that."

Emily looked up at him and he could see her trying to process the information in front of her, "so I would have been around 18 when they were arrested. You said kidnapping wasn't how they started. How did they start and how long were they doing this?"

"From these records and the person I spoke to in the prosecutor's office today, the first case they were able to identify was about 3 years before you were born and they continued until they were arrested.

This group would offer money to people to sign over custody of their babies to them. This gave them a steady influx of babies available for private adoptions. They had an album that they would show people of a certain status and financial resources who wanted to adopt. The kidnappings started later when they didn't have enough babies to meet their needs or they didn't have a baby available to meet the specific criteria of a client.

Once a child was chosen, the lawyer would complete the paperwork. The social worker would falsify the home study documentation. Then the judge would make the changes to the birth certificate, approve the adoption and seal the adoption file.

The adoptive parents paid a large amount of money for the privacy, speed and no paperwork that would show the child was adopted.

Because of how they did the official paperwork, it was challenging to trace the kids back to the families. That is one of the reason the preparations for the trial took 2 years."

Emily sat in her seat as he finished describing what he knew of the operation without moving. A few minutes passed before she said quietly, "so they bought me is what you are telling me."

Hotch sighed as he had expected this part was going be particularly difficult for her to come to terms with, "I don't know the specifics for you but yes, that is how they worked. It looks that way from the adoption papers."

After a few more minutes she looked up at him and said, "my birth parents sold me or I was kidnapped. And the person who I thought was my father paid money to this lawyer to buy me.

I could never understand the claim of how my father could have just showed up with me one day having already adopted me without the Ambassador knowing with all the paperwork and visits we both know is involved with adoptions. But with him doing it this way, it really could have been a surprise. This group obviously didn't care about breaking laws so why not add forgery to the list as well."

Hotch took her hands back before saying, "we need to check further but that is where the evidence I've found so far points. Emily, this is why I didn't tell you last night. I didn't want to drop this news on you unless I was certain that I was remembering the right case with the correct defendants."

Emily sighed and nodded before standing up and pacing around the room. A few minutes later she stopped before asking, "Is there a way to find out what happened to me?"

Hotch looked over at her concerned as he asked, "Do you really want to go down this road, Em?"

Emily nodded and answering almost angry, "I need to know Aaron. I need to know what happened." She pauses before she said in just above a whisper, "I need to know who I am," before she started pacing again.

Hotch took in her determined expression and knew that he wasn't going to be able to say anything to change her mind. He did worry though because there were about 1000 ways this investigation could go wrong or she could get hurt. However, she was right. She had the right to know what happened to her.

Standing up and walking over to where she was pacing, Hotch placed his hands on her shoulders as he looked into her eyes, "Ok, if that's what you want. I'll call back my former colleagues who is still with the prosecutor's office to see if we can the records from that court case. Even if we can get it, it may take a few days."

Emily leaned in to hug him and whispered tearily, "Thank you."

"Do you want to tell the team?" Hotch asked.

"Yes but not yet. They have been a huge support for us, especially over the last month. I don't want to exclude them but I need some more time to wrap my head around all of this. And hopefully have some more information." Hotch nodded and they stood there until Emily pulled away enough to see his face and asked, "who already knows? You mentioned last night needing to talk to people today. And you were able to find this information today to show me."

Hotch took a deep breath before he said, "I spoke to Neil this morning while I was at their offices and he confirmed for me that it was that same case that I thought it was. Before I left, we spoke to Michael Donovan so he wasn't caught off guard when he's in court this week. Both of them have now seen your adoption papers." He paused before Emily nodded. Hotch then continued, "while I was meeting with Neil he mentioned it was an agent in the BAU that actually broke the case while investigating the kidnapping."

Emily looked up surprised and asked excitedly, "Do you know who?"

Hotch shook his head as he answered, "No, but I am trying to find out. This afternoon I ran into Cooper and asked him if he remembered the case. I didn't mention why I was asking or your involvement. He said it wasn't his case however cases involving kids at that point in the BAU were handled by either Gideon or Katie Cole."

Emily wrinkled her brow as she thought of where she knew the name before asking, "the head of Crimes Against Children in …. Baltimore?"

Hotch nodded as he answered, "yes, she used to be a BAU agent before she transferred there. Do you know her?"

Emily nodded as she said, "mostly by reputation but we have met briefly at a couple of meetings."

Hotch said, "I left a message for her since she was in the field today. Hopefully I'll hear back from her soon. Even if it was Gideon's case, she may remember something about it since we aren't going to be able to talk to him."

"Is that everyone you spoke to?" Emily asked.

Hotch shook his head slowly knowing the last person he spoke to may upset her, "no, because of the age of the case, the FBI records for it are in the archives. I was having difficulty accessing it from my workstation. I went down and to have Kevin access the archives and pull the records for me."

Emily head shot up when he mentioned Kevin and was upset when she asked, "why would you do that?"

"Because if I had gone to Dave or Garcia instead of Cooper and Kevin I was concerned they would have figured out in under 5 minutes that the reason I was asking about a old closed case that involved an adoption lawyer and judge somehow involved you. I didn't want them to know especially before I was able to talk to you. I didn't want you to find out that way while at the office." Hotch answered calmly as he caressed her face. As he explained, he could feel her relax and then nod at his rationale.

"OK. OK. I'm sorry. You're right."

"Can you say that again?" he asked jokingly.

Emily looked at him confused before asking, "say what?"

"That I'm right."

Emily rolled her eyes at him before saying, "Not funny Aaron. But that would at least explain why Kevin took off from Garcia's office this afternoon like a bat out of hell when I walked in and said hi. Penelope yelled at me afterwards for doing something to upset him." She smiling as she recounted the story from that afternoon to her husband. He chuckled, not surprised at Kevin's reaction. He only hoped that he hadn't mentioned to Garcia what Hotch had him searching for in the archive records.

Hotch smirked as he said, hugging her, "it is funny and you know it."

"Keep telling yourself that funny man." Emily said as cuddled up against him, holding him in their hug.

Hotch pulled back from her and said, "We can't do anything else tonight so, for now, we are going to go upstairs and relax in the tub and then we are going to bed." He held out his hands for her to take. After a few seconds, Emily nodded and took his hand. He then walked them through the rooms turning off lights.

Before heading up the stairs, he checked the alarm again. He had set it shortly before dinner when it was clear they were in for the night. The doors had been locked since nannies left after Will picked up Henry and Caitlin. He had done a second check as they did every night before taking the kids up to bed. Their years at the BAU had made both of them extra vigilant about security.

When they reach the top of the stairs, Emily stopped and waited for for him to look at her. When he did, she asked, "Don't you have some work you need to finish?"

Most evenings, they both spent time completing paperwork they hadn't finished during the day. It had been a compromise they had made in order for both of them to leave the office at a reasonable hour and be home in time to have dinner with the kids and for bedtime.

Although they both had the equal rank of Unit Chief, Hotch generally had more paperwork because his team worked in the field. Each time his team travelled for case, he had a pile of documents he needed to complete and submit in addition to the reports each member of his team completed.

He shook his head before he answering, "Not tonight. Let me go get the water started." Hotch kissed her hand and let go before walking into their bedroom.

As he walked away, Emily let go of the breath she had been holding, relieved. She didn't want to be alone right now.

A few minutes later, Emily sat down in the tub as Aaron slid in behind her and pulled her back against him. "Just sit back and relax. I've got you."

Leaning back into him, she closed her eyes and tried to forget, at least for a while, everything that she had learned that evening. She could feel her emotions settling as she felt the gentle circles he was rubbing on her arms.

Wanting more contact, Emily bent her legs up and turned to her right side, draping her legs over Aaron's right leg. Relaxng back into him, she rested her cheek on his chest over his heart and closed her eyes as she focused on his heartbeat. Aaron immediately recognized what she wanted and place one hand on her hip while the other started to rub the same gentle circles on her back.

As he continued, Emily still wanted to be closer to him. She lifted her head to look up at him. His hand stopped moving as he noticed her looking at him. As he looked at her questioningly, she reached between them and began to stroke him intimately as she said, "Aaron, I want you."

His eyes widened at her words and feel of her touching him, "Are you sure sweetheart?" He needed to ask however as he felt himself react to her touch, he was hoping that she was sure. He couldn't prevent the moan that escaped from him as he heard her whisper, "Yes." He smiled as he leaned down to take her lips in his.

 **AN: I will get the next chapter out as soon as it's ready, hopefully next week. In chapter 17, the team finds out when Hotch's plan of asking others outside the team for help gathering information backfires and someone else on the team other than Hotch recognizes the names of the judge and the lawyer**


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER 17**

Derek Morgan looked over at the glass doors as they opened, noticing Sam Cooper entering the bullpen. He smiled and waved. Cooper who had been walking towards Hotch's office before seeing the lights were off and door was shut, turned and walked over to Morgan's desk, greeting him, Garcia and JJ who were also there.

"Hey man how are things?" Morgan asked and he stood up and shook Cooper's hand while Garcia stood up from where she had been sitting on Morgan's desk and gave him a hug.

Cooper smiled and shook his head before answering, "Can't complain. I'm looking for Hotch. Do you know where he is?"

Morgan looked around the bullpen after noticing the lights off in Hotch's office as JJ answered, "He went to lunch with Em. They should be back in about half an hour."

Cooper looked down at his watch and shook his head before saying, "Damn, I'm heading into a meeting. Can you give him a message for me?"

"Sure."

Cooper leaned up against Morgan's desk as he said, "Can you tell him that it was Katie that handled that kidnapping case he asked me about yesterday. I was working out with a guy from Justice that use to work with the team on some cases back in the day and he confirmed it."

Morgan and JJ exchanged confused looks. They had just finished conferencing right before lunch and there had been no current case that included a kidnapping.

"Kidnapping case?" Garcia asked also confused.

"Yeah, the huge case from 10-15 years ago that involved the judge and the adoption lawyer. Katie was investigating a kidnapping and discovered that these scumbags had a whole illegal adoption operation that had been going on for years." Cooper answered as he handed Morgan a packet of papers.

"What?!" Morgan, JJ and Garcia all exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah, I don't know why he was asking about it since these guys are in prison." Cooper answered as he shrugged.

JJ took a deep breath to calm herself before saying quietly, "I think it might relate to a consult he is currently working on." She gave both Morgan and Garcia a pointed look as she said it.

Cooper looked at the group intently. He had noticed their confusion when he mentioned kidnapping. The range of emotions that had past over each of their faces when he had described the case. Then JJ's weak explanation together with the look she was giving the other two as she stated Hotch's interest didn't fool him at all. Combine that with Hotch's nervous behavior the previous day and it added up to something weird going on.

But, looking at the clock on the wall, he couldn't dwell on that right now. He had to be in a meeting with Donaldson in 5 minutes who, unlike Strauss, didn't accept any excuses for tardiness.

"OK then. Hotch had already heard that it was BAU agent that broke the case. Josh knew exactly which case I was talking about yesterday when I mentioned it. Thanks for passing on the message. Tell him to let me know if he has any other questions." Cooper said before he walked away from the group, all of their eyes following him.

Once the glass door closed after Cooper exited, Morgan stood up and blurted out, "What the hell?"

Garcia's gazed shifted quickly between the two of them before saying tentatively, "You guys don't think…."

JJ sighed and shook her head before answering softly,"That is exactly what I think."

Morgan caught a glimpse of movement of other agents starting to filter back into the bullpen after lunch who were poorly attempting to eavesdrop on their conversation. With this being a discussion that didn't need an audience he turning back to JJ and Garcia and said in a voice only they could hear, "conference room. Baby Girl, bring your computer. We have some searches to run." Both nodded as they stood up and followed him up the stairs.

####

As Hotch and Emily walked into the bullpen after lunch, they immediately noticed that no one from the team was there. Emily had planned on visiting the team for a few minutes before heading back to her office.

Turning to her husband she ask curiously, "Where is your team?"

Hotch shook his head before looking around the bullpen. As he did, he saw movement through the glass windows. Gesturing, he answered, "Conference room. Did you get a message about a new case while we were at lunch?"

Emily pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen before shaking her head as they walked out the stairs, "No, no messages."

When Hotch opened the door, he saw Garcia sitting on the opposite side of the round table frantically typing on the laptop while JJ and Morgan sat on either side of her with their focus also on the screen. Dave was sitting on the other side of the table with his back to Hotch. When they noticed the door open and Hotch standing there, the conversation in the room immediately stopped. As a few seconds passed, the tension increased. Not sure what was going on with his team, Hotch asked, "Is there a new case?"

For over a minute no one spoke. Then Morgan stood up and asked, "Why didn't you tell us?"

Hotch and Emily, who had moved into sight in the doorway, looked at each other before turning back to look at the 4 pairs of concerned eyes looking at them before Hotch said, "Tell you what?"

Dave shook his head at them before calmly answering, "Henry McRae and Peter Howard"

None of them missed the sudden looks of shock on Hotch and Emily's faces. If the issue hadn't been so serious, the uncharacteristic looks from both would have been comical. Then almost as quickly as the looks appeared they were gone. Hotch placed his hand on Emily lower back guiding her into the conference room. Once they were both inside the room, he closed the door before they walked over and sat at the table with the others.

Emily, still looking paler than usual, looked up from the table at the assembled group and quietly asked, "How did you...?"

Hotch hearing the uncertain tone in his wife's voice glared across the table. He had been trying to avoid this type of confrontation. They were planning to tell the team however all Emily had requested was some time to process the news.

He had specifically told Kevin the day before not to tell anyone what he was searching for and now he was pissed that Kevin couldn't even keep his mouth shut for even 24 hours. He sighed before grumbling, "Dammit, wait until I get my hands on Kevin."

The rest of the team look at each other confused before Morgan asked what all of them were wondering, "What does Kevin have to do with this?"

Hotch looked up surprised to see Garcia glaring back at him as she said, "why are you threatening my Kevie boo?"

Hotch looked at her surprised before asking, "then how do you….?"

Morgan answered, "Cooper." Hotch shook his head internally chastising himself. He hadn't asked Cooper not to say anything to the team as he had done with Kevin. It would have resulted in the other profiler becoming suspicious. 'At least I was able to talk to Emily about this last night.' he mumbled to himself.

"He stopped by earlier to see you and since you weren't in, he asked if we could pass a message and this along to you." Morgan took the papers that had been sitting next to Garcia's laptop and pushed it across the table so it was in front of Hotch.

The group sat in silence as the tension in the room grew until Dave quietly asked, "is this…"

Emily sat up and looked directly at the group as she answered firmly, "Yes."

JJ looked around at the group before softly saying, "If you aren't ready to tell us…."

Emily shook her head and stood up and started pacing as she said irritated, "it's not that. I just needed some time to process the news. I've only found out about this last night."

She turned back to the table and looked at the looks of concern and empathy of her friends. The people that had been standing behind her for not just the last month but for years. Yeah this isn't when or how she wanted to tell them but this is where they were.

She blew out the deep breath she had been holding as she sat back down at the table. She reached over and gave Hotch's hand a quick squeeze before she laced her hands in front of her on the table and said, "I guess we should start at the beginning."

Before she could say anything else, there was a light knock on the door just before it opened slightly and Reid stuck his head in and looked at the group before asking, "did I miss something guys? Do we have a case?" He had been a few minutes late getting back from lunch but hadn't received any urgent messages.

Hotch shook his head and waved him into the room, "no case. Come in and take a seat, Reid. We are just getting started." Spencer walked into the room, looking curiously at the range of expression on the faces of his colleagues and wondering what this meeting was about. He walked over to the open chair at the table and sat down.

Emily smiled and nodded at him before starting, "One of the items left to me by Sebastian Prentiss was the contents of a safety deposit box. A couple of weeks ago I went to the bank and emptied it and took the contents home to inventory all of it. There were various items in there including documents and receipts that our lawyer needed and my adoption papers."

The group looked at her surprised by the way she was referring to her father. It wasn't a secret that he had died when she was a young child. She rarely spoke of him however when she did, it had always been 'Dad' or 'Daddy' as opposed to the more formal 'Mother' than she had always used to refer to the Ambassador until recently when it was 'the Ambassador'.

Hotch then continued, "Sunday night I came across Emily's adoption papers for the first time. When I looked through them I was shocked to see those two names on them. I started in the prosecutor's office when they were being tried." There was an audible gasp in the room.

"Oh my god." JJ said as she leaned over to give Emily a hug.

"You aren't serious man." Morgan exclaimed looking back and forward between Hotch and Emily.

"Why go to Cooper and Kevin? Why not come to us? " Garcia asked quietly as the others nodded as they didn't understand either why the news had come from Cooper and were even shocked when Hotch had mentioned he had gone to Kevin for help.

Hotch nodded answering as he had been expecting the question before, "I didn't immediately share my suspicions with Emily. I was hoping I was wrong about the names and wanted to verify what I suspected before saying anything.

Yesterday morning, our lawyer did confirm it for me. While I was there he mentioned that it was a member of the BAU that cracked the case. When I went to Cooper, it was to ask if it had been his case."

"Cooper's message today was it was Katie Cole's case." Morgan interjected having forgotten to pass on all of Cooper's message.

Dave nodded before he said, "Yeah, she handled most of the cases at that time that involved children. Gideon handled the ones she didn't." He stopped and looked thoughtfully before continuing, "I remember hearing about this case. I wasn't in Quantico though during the investigation into that kidnapping. I was on the West coast working on the Tommy Yates case."

Turning to look at Emily, he said, "you should talk to Katie. I'm sure she will remember the case. It was catalyst for her leaving the BAU to go to Crimes Against Children."

Hotch nodded as he answered, "I've left her a couple of messages and she left one for me this morning. She's been in the field the last couple of days."

"But that doesn't explain how Kevin is involved." Garcia said.

Hotch sighed as he knew Garcia was territorial with her team and her position within the team. He knew he needed to be careful with the answer because the last thing he wanted was to upset her. He took a deep breath and said, "because of the age of the case, I was having trouble accessing the file so I asked him. I didn't come to you instead of Kevin or Dave before Cooper because I wanted to talk to Emily about it before anyone else found out.

The two of them don't know the rest of what's been happening over the last month so wouldn't put the pieces together like I knew both of you would have in under 5 minutes."

The group around the table nodded at his answer as they had figured it out quickly when speaking to Cooper

"I get it Aaron." Dave said.

Hotch was relieved to see Garcia nodding as well before she said, "sorry Hotch. I can understand too. I just want to help. Is there anything else you need now that all of us know?"

Before anyone could say anything, Reid interrupted, "sorry, I came in late. Who was involved in this case?"

"It's a closed case where a judge and adoption lawyer were buying and selling babies along with several other charges including kidnapping. Their names are Henry McRae and Peter Howard." Hotch answered.

Emily sat back in her seat before she said, "I've decided that I want to learn more about this case. Aaron is requesting access to the file from the prosecutor's office. I'm going to look through the complete FBI file once I can get it from archives. If anyone wants to help me go through the information, that would be great." There were murmurs and nodding around the table except from Reid who was looking down at the table in front of him.

"Hotch, were they convicted?"

"Yes, they were convicted along with a social worker who was also involved. As for the rest of the operation, several other tried and convicted of various charges. However there were some involved that they couldn't gather enough evidence to take them to trial and they knew others were involved but the investigation wasn't conclusive on the who part. The FBI investigated and the prosecutor's office prepped for this trial for over two years because of the complexity of it."

JJ looked over at her best friend as she said, "Emily, what are you hoping to learn?"

Emily scrunched up her brow as she answered confusedly, "I don't understand the question."

Morgan nodded and said while gesturing towards JJ, "I don't know if this was what JJ was asking but when we are helping go through the files, what do you want to learn? Only the information surrounding you? Or a full understanding on their whole operation?"

JJ nodded and answered, "Yes, exactly."

"I want to know what happened to me. How did they got me. Was I kidnapped or did my biological parents sell me to these guys? From the files, the summary evidence it appears that kidnapping isn't likely as that wasn't their MO until later but I want to confirm that."

Dave placed both of his palms on the table as he said, "Ok, we'll start there then."

All of the sudden Spencer pushed his chair back and stood up before muttering "Excuse me." The group looked at him with concern, none of them missing that he had been quiet for the last few minutes

"Spence?" JJ said softly as she started to walk around the table.

Spencer looked up nervously, avoiding eye contact with the team before saying, "I need to get some coffee, " as he walk away from the direction JJ was coming and out the conference room door. No one missed the full cup of coffee still sitting on the table in front of his seat that he had brought in with him.

Emily looked at the door he just past through. Her shoulders sagged when looking out the window she saw him bypass the break room and walk out of bullpen.

The room was silent. No one knew what to make of Reid's unexpected reaction. All of them knew how close he and Emily were.

Trying to break the tension in the room, Morgan asked, "Em, what are you going to do with the information? I mean you're 31. Do you really want to try and locate your biological parents?"

Emily looked up at him with glassy eyes before her expression quickly to anger as she answered. "Yes Derek, I'm well aware of how old I am. I don't know what I want to do with the information. I guess it will depend on what we find. Yes, I'll probably end up finding out my biological parents rejected me too since they didn't want me so much that they sold me to the highest bidder in the first place." With that she looked around the room, embarrassed at her outburst before turning and walking out the door behind her.

Morgan looked back to her with wide eyes before starting to walk after her. "Wait Emily, I didn't mean it like that."

Hotch stepped in front of him to block him from leaving the conference room. "Derek, let her go."

Hotch knew from experience that nothing good was going to come from Morgan chasing Emily down right now to talk. With as upset as she was, Emily needed a few minutes to herself before she would be ready to talk.

Turning to the rest of the team Hotch announced, "I want all of you to start on the cases for the day. I'll be back in a bit."

With that Dave walked out of the room towards the break room while JJ and Garcia walk out the other door towards the bullpen.

After he finished gathering all the papers from the table Hotch moved towards the door JJ and Garcia had just exited from to head to his office before going to find his wife and make sure she is OK.

Then he needed to find Reid and find out what in the hell was going on with him. So focused in what he was doing, Hotch didn't realize that there was still someone in the room with him.

Before he could walk out the door, Morgan approached him and said contritely, "Hotch, I wasn't trying to upset her. I just don't want her to get hurt."

Hotch looked at him and nodded. He knew how close Derek and Emily were. "I know, I asked her a similar question last night." Hotch pauses, sighed and shook his head before continuing, "it's why I didn't immediately mention to her that I recognized the names."

Hotch pauses and closed the door to conference room. He briefly thought about what he was going to say next.

He really wanted the other profiler to understand what he had profiled from Emily reaction to the news what her motivation for needing more information about how she had become involved with this operation. He took a deep breath before continuing, "from looking at the evidence we've seen, it appears as if she was sold to these people because the kidnappings didn't start until later. It is the part she's having the hardest time processing. And I'm certain she has just needs to know for sure. "

Morgan grimaced as he thought back at what he said given what Hotch just said. He felt like an idiot. Like the rest of them, she was an investigator. An investigator that had worked on cases involving kidnapping and trafficking. Of course she was going to want to uncover what happened to her.

Morgan then thought of what had happened right before he had made the comment that upset her. He had no idea what was going on with Reid. He had arrived late but had seemed fine until he wasn't. He along with everyone else didn't miss Emily's reaction when Reid had walked out. He was going to have a very serious talk with the boy genius next time he saw him. He shook his head before saying, "Reid walking out like he didn't help with how she is feeling either." As he said that Morgan didn't miss Hotch clenching his jaw or or the stormy look that crossed his eyes.

Morgan stepped towards the door as he said, "Hotch would it be OK with you if I went to talk to Emily. I really didn't mean to upset her. I want to apologise. Let her know that I'm all in with helping her find the answers she is looking for." Hotch sighed before as he considered what Morgan asked.

He knew Morgan wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt Emily or anyone else on the team. He didn't even think that Emily was as angry with Morgan as it had appeared. The question came just after Reid walked out of the conference room after lying to them about needing to get coffee.

As upset as he was with Reid's actions, Hotch could tell that there was more going on with him. What it was however was a mystery as he seemed fine when he arrived in the conference room. To find out what happened Hotch knew he needed to talk to Reid and soon. Everyone on the team, except Blake who was teaching at Georgetown this afternoon, had seen what had happened. The issue needed to be addressed before it adversely affected the team.

Right now, Hotch decided that talking to Morgan and hearing that he supported her was going to help Emily more than anything, especially after Reid walking out, than Hotch could say at this point. He would see her that evening. That decision made, he turned back to Morgan and nodded as he said, "sure but let me right away if it doesn't go well. My guess is she is on the roof. She like to go up there to think when she's upset if the weather is nice."

"Ok man. Thanks." Morgan nodded and opened the door and walked out of the bullpen , heading towards the stairs.

 **AN: I hope the have the next chapter uploaded by the end of the week. In chapter 18, Reid explains his reaction to Dave and Hotch. Meanwhile, Emily opens up to Derek.**


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER 18**

After watching Morgan head out of the bullpen, Hotch walked to his office to drop off the papers Morgan had handed him before going to find Reid. He was fairly sure he knew where his subordinate had gone. One of the advantages of being a profiler was knowing where each member of his team went when they needed some space.

As he was getting ready to walk back out of his office, he stopped when Dave walked in and shut the door. He walked over to the chairs in front of Hotch's desk and sat down. Looking over at Hotch, Dave gestured for him to sit down in the other chair. Hotch looked at the clock and sighed before walking over and sitting down next to Dave.

"Where are you going Aaron?"

"To talk to Reid."

"Did you hear from Emily?" Dave asked concerned.

Hotch shook his head before answering, "No, but Derek asked to go talk to her. He wanted to apologize. I also thought she needed to hear that he supported her. I'll go see her in an hour or so."

Dave nodded and said as he started to stand up, "good. OK, let's go talk to Reid. Do you know where to find him?"

"Dave, I've got this."

Dave carefully observed the Unit Chief. On the surface, he appeared to be his usual calm stoic self however Dave could see the agitation in his eyes. "Aaron, you are upset with him. I can see it in your face. And I understand that…" Dave said before Hotch interrupted him.

"Dave I appreciate what you are trying to do. Yes I'm annoyed that he lied to all of us and walked out. I'm irritated that he upset Emily even more than she already was about this whole situation. But there was something in his eyes when he stood up to leave. I only got a quick look because he was avoiding eye contact. He had been fine when he walked into the room but something that we talked about spooked him."

Dave nodded having had the same thoughts on Reid's reaction in the conference room. "I agree. What do you think?"

Hotch shook his head before looking at Dave as he answered worriedly, "I don't know but I want to find out. If there is something else we need to know before we start investigating this case further."

Dave walked over and put his hand on the doorknob before turning back and looking at Hotch waiting for him to follow, "OK then. Let's go talk to Reid."

Hotch chuckled at Dave's persistence before following him out the door.

 **####**

Morgan opened the door and walk onto the roof of the FBI building. Looking around at the immediate vicinity he didn't see Emily.

He sighed and thought he should have clarified with Hotch where on the roof Emily liked to decompress. He turned to the right and walked towards the end of the building, looking but didn't see anyone. He turned around and walked back past the door he had come out through. It wasn't until he reached the helipad that he saw a small covered area at the far end of the roof. As he walked closer, Morgan smiled as he saw Emily sitting in a folding lawn chair.

Sensing his presence, Emily looked up and after a momentary look of confusion, smiled at him. Morgan took this as a sign that she was OK with him crashing her private spot.

As he walked up to her, Emily rose from her seat and walked a few steps up to a small metal door and unfasten the latch. As he moved next to her, Morgan could see it was a cubby hole built into the structure of the building. Once she had it open, Emily reached in and pulled out another chair. He chuckled and shook his head when she handed it to him. Before she closed the door, Morgan could see several more similar chairs folded up as well. Apparently this wasn't only Emily's secret spot.

Moving back over to where she had been sitting, Morgan set up his chair as Emily sat back down on hers. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes looking out over the Academy quad and at the trees as far as they could see.

"It's beautiful up here." Morgan said quietly.

Emily nodded and said without looking over at him, "I know. I found this spot when I was at the Academy." She paused before continuing, "It's gorgeous in the spring when everything is blooming and again in early fall then all the leaves on all those trees start to change."

Morgan smiled and said, "I'll have to come back and check it out then."

Emily chuckled as she said, "No way, Morgan. This is my spot. Go find your own."

He turned to her and laughed in response. He sobered after a minute before saying, "Emily I wanted to come up to apologize to you. I'm worried that looking into this case will cause you to be hurt even more than already have been. I went about verbalizing that concern the wrong way. If you really want to do this, count me in to help."

Emily looked over at him and could see the sincerity in his eyes. She nodded as she responded, "Thanks. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled at you and walked out. I get your concern. Aaron expressed a similar worry last night. But I need to do this." She looked at him almost pleadingly as she said the last part.

Morgan nodded and responded, "OK then" before they both turned back to quietly look at the scenery. After a few minutes past, Morgan turned to look at her and asked something that had been on his mind since they were in the conference room, "What did you mean by another parent rejecting you?"

Emily huffed as she looked back at him and said, "come on Derek. You have heard me for years grumble about the Ambassador." Emily stood up and started pacing while Morgan quietly watched. He knew this her way of gathering her thoughts. He needed to give her time if he wanted her walls to come down enough so she would really open up and talk to him.

As she was pacing, she said without looking at him, "for as long as I can remember, nothing I did was ever good enough." She then came back and sat down before she said barely louder than a whisper, "I was never good enough."

Emily looked down at the ground and shuffled her feet before continuing, "then last month I found out all that I did after she died.

After a few days I realized that nothing I ever did was going to be enough for her. It didn't matter what my major was or the grades I got or where I lived or who I married, it was never going to be good enough." She paused and shook her head. "I'm just glad that I gave up trying years ago otherwise I would be miserable right now."

Emily stopped and took a deep breath before crossing her arms over her chest before continuing, "I've been telling myself over the last couple of weeks it was because she didn't want to be my mother. That at some point she had changed her mind about the adoption though now there's the question if she actually ever consented to the adoption at all. That whatever it was it was her issues instead of me. But now…" Emily stopped and stared blankly before dropping her head down onto her hands that were resting on her thighs.

After watching her for a couple of minutes, Morgan quietly asked, "Now what Emily?"

Emily sat back up and looked out at the quad before turning to him and shrugged, "I don't know how to feel. I was mostly OK with the being adopted part. I had come up with a thousand different ways of why someone would make the selfless decision to give their baby up, hoping to give them a better life."

Emily paused and thought back to how many times she had considered this topic over the last month. She more than most could empathize. Because of her unique circumstances, she had made a different choice however that did not diminish her understanding of the types of potential situations that would lead someone to put a baby up for adoption.

Emily turned to him with pain and sadness evident in her eyes as she said, "but over the last 24 hours, I've found out that most likely my biological parents sold me. That I was just seen as a commodity that was worth a few bucks. I wasn't good enough for them to care or consider where I would be going or who was going to get me or what would happen to me as long as they got their money." As she finished, Morgan could see her wipe a tear away from the corner of her eye.

Morgan sighed and started, "Prentiss."

Emily looked over at him, this time with fire in her eyes as she harshly whispered, "Don't call me that."

Morgan looked back at her confused as he asked, "What? Prentiss?"

Emily looked down at the ground in front of her and nodded, "Yes. I'm not a Prentiss and never was. My adoption was illegal."

Morgan looked at her stunned before saying, "but it's what you've been know as all of your life." He knew she was upset however denying her last name was on a completely different level.

Emily sighed, not surprised by his reaction before saying, "I know but it's all been a lie. Every time today I've heard that name I feel sick." She stopped and took a deep breath while trying to decide how to explain the next part. She turned and looked at him before saying calmly, "he bought me Derek. The man who I thought was my father bought me. He went to these guys and picked me out of a catalog. Then he paid money for me with a shiny new birth certificate as if I was a possession like I was a Cabbage Patch Kid."

Morgan sighed and nodded, not knowing how to respond. As hard as it was to hear all of this happening to his friend, he could only imagine how difficult it was for her to be going through it all. Before he could say anything, she continued, "you know I had always thought that he was the more reasonable one. I don't remember a lot about him. He died when I was 5. But what I do remember he was caring. But now I don't know what to think. Did I tell you how he had his will set up?"

Morgan shook his head as he said, "Just what you and Hotch told us that night at your house. Was there something else?"

Emily took a deep breath before saying, "He wrote it so that my inheritance didn't go to me or at least not completely, it went to my husband too." She paused and rolled her eyes before continuing, "I've been annoyed with that since I first read it. All the what-ifs going through my mind.

I couldn't wrap my head around the rationale for at 30 years old I wouldn't be seen as capable enough to handle it. But looking at it from the perspective of him seeing me as a possession, it completely makes sense." Emily stopped and rubbed her hands together. It was an unseasonably warm day however it was November and they had been sitting out there for a while.

"Have you talked to Hotch about this?" Morgan asked noticing that the dropping temperatures were slowly starting to affect his friend.

Emily shrugged before looking over at him, "some. When we first found out, he offered to sign his part over to me since it was my inheritance. He wasn't comfortable with the situation either." She stopped and shook her head before continuing, "but I said no because even if it had come completely to me, it would have been ours." Emily paused and then said in just over a whisper, "what I haven't discussed with him is now I'm not sure I want any of it." Emily looked over at him trying to read his reaction. She hadn't verbalized these new feelings to anyone else yet.

"Just tell him what you've told me."

"I know. It's just something that has been on my mind for the last few days and more so today after what Aaron told me last night." Emily paused and took a deep breath.

Relieved that Morgan wasn't trying to talk her out of what she was considering, Emily continued, "I don't want to make a rash decision that I'll later regret. I mean financially we are doing well but it would be nice to have a nest egg given the risks of the job." She sighed and shook her head thinking of the potential consequences of what she wanted to do would have on her family.

"Aaron's hearing will never be 100% again and the doctors are cautioning him every time he goes in for a checkup to be careful around loud noises or it may further compromise his hearing.

It just felt so good to finally get those school loans paid off that I don't know if it's fair to ask him to give up the security that this money would mean to our family."

Morgan sighed understanding her position and why she was trying to work this out for herself before talking to Hotch about it. However, ultimately, they would need to both need to agree on whatever they decide. He looked over at her and nodded as he said, "only the two of you can work that out. Even if for some reason he needed to leave the field, Hotch has a lot of different options from a desk position at the FBI to guest lecturer to going back to being a prosecutor to a dozen other possibilities. Just talk to him."

Emily nodded and sighed. She was no closer to a decision but as her friend had pointed out, she needed to talk it through with Aaron before a decision could be made. She sat back in her seat and looked back out at the quad.

After a few minutes, Morgan turned and asked as he noticed that she had been shivering for the last couple of minutes, "are you ready to go back to work? Your kids must be wondering where you are at this point."

Emily rolled her eyes at him as she answered, "My kids are home, hopefully taking a nap. My subordinates will be fine. Alvez and Lewis are working with other teams today and Walker is finishing up his outstanding paperwork before his transfer next week."

She shook her head at Morgan and stood up and said and she folded up her chair, "But you are right, we probably should get back to work or I'll be up half the night getting caught up on paperwork."

After they returned both chairs to the cubby hole, the walked together back into the building, heading back to the BAU.

 **####**

Hotch and Dave walked into the storage room for recently completed case files. Hotch lead the way down past several rows of files while Dave wondered how he had discovered Reid liked to come to this place.

About three quarters of the way through the large room, Hotch turned to the right and into an area that was set up with cubicles for review of the case files stored in this room. There were various agents and trainees scattered throughout the desks. Dave stopped suddenly as Hotch turned left and then stopped to look at his missing agent sitting at the desk in front of them, looking sheepishly back at them.

After looking at each other for a couple minutes without anyone saying anything, Dave looked around at the various people milling around the work areas. This was not the place for this what he suspected was a private conversation. Looking between the two men, Dave said, "let's go for a ride. I know a place we can talk."

About 25 minutes later, they stopped at an empty lot that was familiar to Dave. Hotch shook his head and said sarcastically, "you really do pick the best meeting places Dave."

Dave chuckled as he remembered Emily reaction to this same lot, "your wife said something similar when I brought her here to talk a couple of years ago."

Hotch looked at him surprised and asked, "when?"

Dave nodded, not surprised that Emily hadn't told him where they had gone to talk though he knew Hotch knew that they had talked, "after her friend Matthew died."

Hotch frowned before nodding. He took a deep breath and changed his focus to their colleague standing next to them, "Reid, what happened today?"

Reid was pacing in front of them as he said nervously, "I didn't mean to upset Emily. Why did this happen?"

Hotch and Dave looked at each other and nodded. They had both hypothesized that Reid walking out wasn't about Emily but that there had been something familiar about the names. Hotch asked, "Why did what happen?" at the same time Dave asked, "How did you recognize the names Spencer?"

Reid stopped pacing and looked over at them surprised as he asked, "How did you know?"

Hotch and Dave looked at each other and rolled their eyes. As he shook his head, Dave said,

"You were fine while Emily and Hotch were explaining what they found until Hotch mentioned the names of the men involved. Then you were quiet and distracted until you made an excuse and left."

Reid looked down and thought about what Dave at just said before nodding. He took a deep breath realizing that he needed to explain his reaction. He needed to talk about something that the whole team knew, or at least he thought Dave knew, but never talked about. He wasn't going to lie about being nervous about how this conversation was going to end.

Reid looked up at them and started to say anxiously, "When …. When I was kidnapped." The eyes of both men in front of him widened as neither had expected this discussion to go there. Hotch nodded and Reid continued, "Henkel he gave me …" He stopped and looked at Hotch, not knowing how to continue.

Noticing the apprehension of the younger man in front of him, Dave said softly, "I know about the Dilaudid Spencer. It's OK. Tell us what you remember."

Reid looked over at him with wide eyes and immediately calmed when he saw the understanding look on Dave's face. When he looked back at Hotch he gave him a sad smile, knowing how hard Spencer had worked to get past that horrible experience and now they were asking him to dredge it all up.

Reid nodded, calmer than he had been a few minutes earlier and explained, "When he would inject me with it, I would have vivid memories of things that happened when I was a kid. It was mostly around the time my dad left but the memories weren't linear."

He paused as he tried to focus on the one relevant memory, not wanting to be flooded with all of the memories he had from during his time with Tobias Henkel. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing, "One of the memories that was dredged up was from about a week before he left. I had been with my mom in their bedroom. She was having a bad day and hadn't been able to get out of bed. I had asked her to read me a book because it helped her feel better. After a while she fell asleep and when I was walking down to the kitchen, I heard my dad in a heated discussion on the phone. That is where I heard the names."

"What else do you remember hearing?"

"The names, something about offshore accounts and time running out. I didn't hear too much because he hung up as soon as he realized I was there." Both men looked at him with widened eyes before looking at each other. When they had looked into William Reid's life a few years earlier, they had learned that he was he was a financial manager and worked heavily in investments.

"Did you hear him on any other similar phone conversations?"

Reid shook his head as he answered, "no, most of the time he would take calls in his office. I don't remember him ever taking a work call in the kitchen before this."

"What about after?"

Reid stopped and looked down for several seconds while Hotch and Dave observed him. When Reid looked back up to them and made eye contact, they could see that he remembered something significant. He shook his head as he said,"no, but he moved out 6 days later and I didn't see him again until you and Morgan were with me in Vegas."

Hotch and Dave looked at each other, both doing the math in their heads. After a few seconds, Hotch gave Dave a knowing look which Dave responded to with a slight nod. When they got back to the BAU, they would need to check about where this call and Reid's father leaving fell within the timeline of the criminal investigation of that case.

"Did you know what they did before that case in Vegas." Hotch asked, wondering why this was the first time Reid had mentioned this to anyone on the team.

Reid looked at him with wide eyes before looking down and nodding, "yes. I searched the names which lead me to the case file a few months after we came back from Georgia. I needed to find out who they were."

"Why didn't you say anything to any of us?"

Reid stated emphatically, "I did. I talked to Gideon about what I remembered." Hotch could feel his anger rise at this revelation because Gideon hadn't mentioned anything to him about it.

Dave also noticed the change in demeanor of their Unit Chief as he asked, "What did he say?"

Reid took a deep breath before saying in a very quick ramble, "He mentioned that he thought my memories were jumbled from being under the influence of Dilaudid that was cut with a psychedelic. He said that the case was solved and if my dad had been involved, he would have been caught when they were investigating the case. He cautioned me that the Dilaudid could come to light if I started asking too many questions.

Then I started to question for myself what i was remembering. After thinking back about that time, I knew it was a real memory. I was planning to talk to him about it again the morning that we were suppose to play chess and he never showed up. None of us saw him again and I guess at that point, I just let it go. I didn't know what to do at that point because I thought everyone would have the same reaction he had when I first brought it up."

As Reid finished, Hotch could feel anger towards Gideon washing over him again as it had in the days and weeks after he abruptly walked away from the team. As had happened more than once before he left, he gave questionable advice to a member of the team. As expected, Reid had taken his advice to heart and not said a word to anyone… until today. Gideon had then left without mentioning anything to Hotch so that he could check in on Reid.

Taking some calming breaths so Reid would not take his anger as being angry at him, Hotch then said sincerely, "I would have listened to you Spencer if you would have come to me."

Reid nodded at the look on his boss' face before he said more anxiously as he went along, "What was I going to say? As a team we didn't talk about the Dilaudid. I didn't know how to talk about remembering the names without saying how I remembered them. They were already in jail so what could we have done? I didn't know where my dad was at that point."

Hotch looked at his subordinate and sighed, not able to get past the feeling that he had failed him in some way. Keeping Reid's issues around the Dilaudid after the Henkel case was done to protect Reid and his position within the BAU.

Strauss supported the team however she was for the most part a stickler for regulations and would have felt she had no choice but to report it to Donaldson who Hotch was concerned would have made it an issue.

So Hotch and Gideon and later Dave watched him carefully utilizing their skills as a profiler. Hotch also knew that Morgan and Emily were also keeping close tabs on him. For all that that observation could accomplish, it did not replace the importance of dialogue.

Hotch had never explicitly opened that door to him, hoping that Reid would come to him or Gideon if he was becoming overwhelmed. Now as it turned out Reid did go to Gideon and had essentially his concerns had been shut down. And if that wasn't bad enough, the way it was done had resulted in Reid being more hesitant to talk to anyone else about how he remembered this information.

Dave could see the conflicted looks on Hotch's face and decided to change the topic a bit to find out how all of the pieces fit together. He looked over at Reid and said, "Then we got that kidnapping case in Vegas."

Hotch looked up and over at Dave as he finished before saying matter of fact, "and your nightmares started again." The whole team had witnessed the one on the jet and then Morgan had told him about the one at the house.

Reid nodded before saying, "they did and in one of them when I got to the basement and saw the feet of Riley Jenkins visible behind the washer with a man kneeling in front of it. When the man turned around, it was my dad."

"Your subconscious was putting the cases together." Dave murmurs.

Reid nodded, "Yes. But I knew I needed to focus on the UNSUB we were there to find because a little boy's life was in the balance. But when the case was over, I needed to find out what happened to Riley Jenkins. That's why I decided to stay when I was thinking about everything the night I stayed with my mom.

I needed to see if he was attempted victim of that kidnapping ring. I hadn't looked at the case file close enough to see that the ring was only kidnapping infants. I needed to know how my dad was involved with them and if so how."

Dave looked at him said exasperatedly, "Morgan and I were there with you. Hotch, Emily and Garcia were digging information up on your dad."

Reid looked at him and straightened his body still annoyed as he thought back at that case, "Yes but Rossi, you and Derek just wanted me to drop the whole investigation. You asked me multiple times if I was sure if I really wanted to pursue a case where my dad was a potential UNSUB. 'Some rocks don't need looking under' remember that. Stuff about Freud. You had already dismissed my memories of the Riley Jenkins case as having just read it. But it wasn't. I knew him. We were on the same tball team. You and Derek already didn't trust my judgement on looking into the case why would I tell you this. Are you seriously going to tell you it would have helped? Or would you have just dismissed it as delusions under the influence of drugs?"

Dave sighed as he took in what Reid had said. Hotch, Dave and Morgan had all discussed before Hotch flew back with Emily and JJ that there was more going on with Reid and the Riley Jenkins case than he was saying. That was why Dave and Morgan had asked to stay and Hotch agreed.

When Reid had mentioned he thought about his father being involved Dave and Morgan had been concerned that it was about revenge. They had no idea about this other part of the equation. However, if he was being honest, Dave didn't know how he would have reacted to the news knowing how complexed the McRae/Howard case had been. But even now, he wished he would have had the opportunity, especially when he had had William Reid in the same room with him. "I wish you would have told me Spencer."

"Why?"

Hotch took a deep breath before answering, "We were looking into your dad. Since we didn't know about this connection when you were 10, we didn't look at his life in that timeframe. We only looked at what he was doing around the time Riley Jenkins was killed when you were about 4 and then around the time of that case."

Hotch waited for Reid to look at him before continuing, "In addition to that, I would have believed you if you would have mentioned the names. I worked on the case in the prosecutor's office. That experience is how I knew when I saw Emily's adoption papers."

Reid nodded and then looked at Hotch contrite as he said, "I'm sorry Hotch. After we found out about Gary Michaels and how he died, I didn't know how to proceed. I knew I couldn't throw another vague charge against my dad because it that was found to not be anything, I was afraid of losing the respect of the team. McRae and Howard were both already in prison and my dad wasn't. You and Emily didn't find anything on him either. I didn't think about you looking at a different time frame. I didn't know you or Rossi knew who they were or I would have said something."

"You told us now and we will be having Garcia check into him around when he left and then what he has been up to recently. We'll widen the search as needed. If there is a connection, she'll find it."

"Thanks Hotch. I also need to talk to Emily. I want to help. I need to let her know why I left."

"Come by tonight. I'll let her know you are coming."

"If you two are ready, why don't we head back to the office before they send out a search party."

The three nodded and walked back to the SUV.

 **AN: I hope the next chapter won't take as long to be ready to post. In chapter 19- as the team looks into Emily's adoption, the information discovered shocks a member of the team.**


	19. Chapter 19

**AN: There is one episode that initially inspired this story and a huge clue on what episode it is can be found in this chapter. Any guesses? Hope you enjoy it.  
**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination and mistakes.**

 **CHAPTER 19**

It had been a bumpy 2 weeks since Emily had told the team that she wanted to look into the case concerning her adoption.

As promised, Spencer had come over that first evening to talk to Emily. He was reluctant at first to come into the house. That was until Emily took his hand and pulled him in, assuring him she wasn't upset at him. After settling in the family room, Reid explained everything to her about why he had reacted the way he did.

By the time Hotch came back down from their home office, he could tell both of them had been crying. When Reid left that evening, Emily was just as determined to help him find his truth as he was to help her find hers. He explained to the team why he had left the next day and they agreed that they should investigate his father's possible involvement as well.

The next day, Aaron had called his contact in the prosecutor's office to request the court records of the case for the team to review. Getting access to the records had ended up being a complicated process that ultimately required bringing Strauss into the negotiations.

It was finally agreed to give the BAU access however all of the records needed to stay at the FBI building because the prosecutor's office knew that there were still people involved in various capacities in this group that hadn't been caught yet.

Chief Strauss had granted them access to a rarely used conference room that was down past Garcia's office in order to delineate this case from their official workload. In addition, the team and Emily were the only ones granted access to this room so they could write on the dry erase boards and posted information as they organized it without anyone else knowing Emily's personal business.

Then earlier this week, Emily had met with Strauss to start the process of having her name officially changed within the Bureau to Hotchner. It was a decision that she had never thought that she would make having wanted to maintain her own identity professionally. But time had not helped with the sick feeling she had anytime someone referred to her as Prentiss.

When they had discussed it, Aaron had promised to support her in whatever she decided. They would work together through any confusion that having two BAU Unit Chiefs with the same last name would cause.

Strauss had understood the sudden request from the context of having heard about her adoption details from working with the team and the prosecutor's office. Strauss had promised to see what she could do to expedite the process for her.

Also taking Derek's suggestion, Emily sat Aaron down at home one evening and explained to him how she now felt about her inheritance. It had been hard to get started but once she did, Emily was grateful that he heard her out without interruption.

While she was nervously waiting for him to respond after she had finished explaining her mindset, Emily wondered what they would do if Aaron didn't want the same outcome as her.

However her fears were unfounded because he admitted that he also felt uneasy about her inheritance given what they have learned over the last month. They made tentative plans for it but the details hadn't been discussed yet. It had been enough at this point that they were on the same page.

When the team had gathered to discuss what Reid had revealed to Hotch and Dave along with what Emily wanted to know, they formulated a plan to accomplish both goals. It was decided that Garcia and Hotch would oversee the investigation about William Reid's possible connection with Emily and Dave's help.

The rationale for those two overseeing that part was Garcia's ability to run searches and find connections that weren't even possible 10-12 years earlier when the original investigation had occurred. Hotch was there to assure that if they did find a connection that they could provide a clean trail from the research that was already done in the FBI and prosecutor's files to William Reid that the BAU could then hand over to the prosecutor's office for evaluation.

The goal was to keep Spencer's memory out of it completely if possible to avoid needing to bring up what happened to him while kidnapped and making official what happened to him with the Dilaudid.

With him following through with the Las Vegas police 3 years earlier about the suspicion that William Reid had been the one to murder Riley Jenkins, it could potentially muddy the water with the prosecutor's office if he had been involved in this investigation, no matter how clear a path they were able to lay out. With that goal in mind, Spencer was not to be involved other than hearing the same updates as the rest of the team.

Surprisingly, after talking it through with Dave and Hotch, Spencer was OK with that, knowing that the team was going to fully investigate his suspicions. He was relieved to have finally talked about it and have that person, or in this case people, take him seriously and offer to investigate. It felt like a weight had been taken off his shoulders.

While Dave, Emily, Hotch and Garcia were investigating that, Spencer eagerly accepted being put in charge of overseeing how Emily came to be with the group and later adopted with JJ and Derek's help. Between the files that they had brought over from the FBI archives and what the prosecutor's office had sent over, there was a massive amount of paperwork to go through which made Reid the best person to oversee it.

As the days went on, the team was impressed by how many boxes of evidence were moving and how much information was being written on the board and posted on the walls. Given that this evidence had already been gone through by the original investigation, they immediately went through and eliminated the files for the babies who had already been identified as well as any boys. After that they had restricted the list further to encompass a time frame of 2 years before the official court date on Emily's adoption papers. Spencer was certain it was a much narrower time frame but had preferred to cast a wide net and then they could shrink it from there.

Two days earlier, Spencer was thrilled to have finally isolated what he was certain was the internal file number that they had used for Emily. They had slowly been able to eliminate the other girls adopted in the 2 year time frame by going through the evidence. He wasn't sure why but this file had an extra level of security that didn't exist with most of the other records. On the documents for the other babies they had found the adoptive family name written in however on these where the name had been written in it was now blacked out and replaced with a number.

Spencer had worked several hours trying to make sense of this number, discounting it was an anagram or a code. There was something familiar about it but he couldn't place it. It wasn't until he woke from a dream in the middle of the night that the possible answer came to him.

Unable to go back to sleep, he quickly got ready and headed into the BAU. Arriving at 4:30AM, he headed to the workroom after a brief stop in the break room for his morning cup of coffee. When he arrived, he went to the table looking for a specific document. When he found it, he turned to the last page and looked at the stamp before smiling.

The mystery number was identical to the docket number on Emily's adoption papers. At some point after the adoption was finalized for some yet to be known reason, someone had gone back and redacted the adoptive name and replaced it with this number.

Spencer was now 97% certain he had the correct file number. He spent the next 3 hours pulling together all of the documents with that file number while he also laid out the timeline.

As he was organizing the documents before needing to go to his desk, Spencer noticed something and took a closer look at the document. It was an information sheet and care instructions that the caregivers of the babies filled out and sent to the adoptive home after the adoption. It contain birth and current measurements, feeding information as well as other pertinent information such as birth marks listed.

As with the rest of the documents, the adoptive name had been blacked out on sheet however when Spencer went to put it aside, he noticed that the third carbon copy was still attached. When he turned the page, he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. On the 3rd page, the indentions from when the document was filled out was still visible. And on it was the internal file number, the other number that Spencer now knew was the docket number for Emily's adoption as well as the name Prentiss clearly printed at the top as well as Sebastian Prentiss' signature at the bottom.

BINGO. Now he was 100% sure and knew he could bring the information that he, JJ and Morgan had found to Emily.

But, he thought as he looked at his watch, it would need to wait until the end of the day because he needed to get back to his desk.

####

It was late afternoon as Emily sat at her desk nervously. She had received a message earlier in the day that Spencer was ready to present the findings to her. On one hand, she wanted to walk down to the workroom and wait for everyone else to arrive. However that part of her was in direct conflict with the part of her that wanted to leave and go home to cuddle with her kids and forgot the whole investigation.

For most of the day, she had felt her anxiety rise as the time got closer to when she would hear what the findings were.

Her doubts about this investigation had risen with a vengeance two days earlier when she had overheard Derek and Spencer discussing where they were with the files and then Spencer mentioning offhand that, according to the records, October 12th was most likely not her actual date of birth. On top of everything else, it was hard to hear that she had been deceived about something as fundamental as the day she was born.

After that, the anxiety had Emily stepping back until they had found some concrete evidence. She found she needed some distance from the process. She needed to trust her closest friends to find the answers for her while she kept her focus on the confusing information they were finding on William Reid.

As they started, they had reviewed the information they had found when Spencer was investigating the Riley Jenkins case. The inconsistencies had immediately started when they started to track his movements around the dates of the phone call Spencer had mentioned as well as the day William Reid left his wife and son.

The date of the phone call had been the same day that Katie Cole had first interviewed Peter Howard as part of the FBI investigation into a botched kidnapping. When they saw that the day that William Reid abruptly disappeared was same was the first arrests were made on this case, they felt that it was no coincidence. Now they just needed to see where the evidence led them.

.As Emily was thinking about the next factors that they needed to look at on William Reid, there was a knock on her door. Looking up, she saw Morgan standing against the doorframe, grinning at her as he asked, "so are you ready Princess?" He could see how nervous Emily had been the last couple of days and decided to go to her office and walk to the workroom with her.

"I don't know." Emily responded shakily as she stood up and walked around her desk until she reached him. He reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

Derek smiled at her and tried to keep as relaxed as possible, hoping it would help her relax as well. "Hey, Em, it's going to be OK. We have some answers for you. Not everything but The Kid found a definite connection this morning. He figured out what that other number was. He also found a document that your father signed along with both numbers on it," he said as they walked out past the empty desks of her team and down the hall towards the work room.

"He's not my father." Emily mumbled quietly though Morgan still heard her. He sighed, knowing that the topic was a touchy subject, before saying, "Sorry, Princess."

When the reached the door to the workroom, he stopped and turned to look at her, waiting for her to look up at him. When she did, he said, "just remember no matter what you find out in this room, we are all here for you."

Emily nodded as she smiled at him and said, "Thanks Derek, let's do this" before she took a deep breath and opened the door.

####

As the team settled into the room, there was a buzz as they were anxious to hear what details had been found. A couple of minutes after Emily walked in with Derek Garcia came in holding her laptop followed immediately by Dave. Emily sat down at the table with Hotch sitting on one side of her while JJ took the chair on her other side. Once everyone else was seated, Reid stood up awkwardly at the front of the room and announced that he had a connection. Taking a deep breath, he started to talk while pointing out various documents they had tacked up on the wall.

"OK, as everyone knows we were able to isolate the file number that we thought was the one the group used for Emily. But we wanted to be sure. There was also another number in place of the adoptive family name on all of the paperwork associated with that number. They only did this with a few children . It isn't clear why other than it was done after the adoption was finalized and it was done to add an additional level of separation."

"How do you know it was done after the adoption was finalized?" Dave asked as he looked at Reid.

"Because the number they were using was the docket number the court used for the adoption." Reid said before turning his focus back to Emily and said, "I thought it looked familiar and then when I came in this morning, I confirmed it when I looked at your adoption papers. With that, I was 97% sure but I really wanted to be 100% sure before we presented it to you. Then when I was reviewing all the documents with those numbers this morning, I found this," Spencer said as he took on of the documents off the board and placed it in front of Emily before continuing, "as you can see both numbers are on this sheet and the adoptive family is blacked out."

"Yes, I see." Emily said distracted before Spencer smiled and turned up the top sheet to show her and the rest of the group the carbon copy underneath that had the same information however the family name was visible. "Oh my god, this is me," Emily says tearily as she touches the line where Prentiss is written before looking down at the signature line. "That is his signature."

"Yes, I compared it with the adoption papers." Spencer said solemnly before stepping back and giving Emily time.

After a couple of minutes, she looked up from the sheet and said, "OK, as far as we can tell, this is me. Was there any additional information other than what is on this sheet?"

"Yes, we have found most of the documents they used that have this file number so if you want, we can review what we found."

"Please."

"OK. As suspected earlier, we have further evidence that October 12th isn't the day you were born." Spencer paused before continuing, "the intake paperwork lists your date of birth was October 23rd. There are a couple possible reasons for that I'll come back to in a few minutes. However, we won't know for sure until we find the original birth certificate and that wasn't in the file."

Reid walked back over to the board and took down a couple more documents and brought them back to the table before saying, "Judge McRae signed off on custody being awarded to the Mr. Howard on November 3th. Sebastian Prentiss petitioned for adoption on November 9th and the judge granted it on November 13th."

Emily looked up at him in shock before looking over at Hotch and then back to Reid before she exclaimed, "four days. It only took 4 days to finalize the adoption. Wow!" Hotch too was surprised as they knew how long the whole process had taken them when Emily adopted Jack and that was with him already being the custodial parent.

After looking through the documents, Emily asked quietly, "Does it say why I was given up?"

Reid took a deep breath and looked at his friend with sad eyes, knowing this topic had been weighing heavily over her though he was pleased that they had found some answers, "yeah Em. Your biological mother was killed in a car accident." He paused as everyone at the table gasped before continuing,

"As next of kin, her mother had custody of you and was the one who contacted Mr Howard. The intake paper stated that she hadn't wanted her daughter to keep the baby in the first place. She stated that she had done research during her daughter's pregnancy as she wanted her daughter to put the baby up for adoption at birth which her daughter had refused to do. She had heard about this firm and that they offered money to birth parents. She said she needed the money."

Emily looked down at the top page of the intake document that Reid had placed before her and read through it. Her mother did want her and had even resisted pressure to give her up for adoption so that she could keep her. Wiping the side of her eye, she said quietly, "is there any information about my father?"

Reid nodded and turned the page of the intake document until he reached a new page, "your grandmother stated he was a soldier who at that point deployed to Vietnam. She stated that she didn't want to care for the infant indefinitely until and if he returned. She also stated she didn't think he even wanted the baby." Emily nodded at that and looked over the page with the information Reid had just stated about her biological father.

As Emily was looking over the document, Hotch asked as he placed his hand on her shoulder, "have you found any names?" Emily looked up at Reid, waiting to hear his answer.

Garcia nodded from her seat and opened her laptop as she said, "yeah if you have names I can run them and see if I get any hits."

Reid shook his head as he said, "Emily, your biological mother and father's names are not listed anywhere. We will probably need to find the original birth certificate for those."

Garcia, not to be deterred when they were so close to finding answers interjected, "not necessarily Gorgeous Grey Matter, if you have the grandmother's name I can do a search for her. It will shorten the list of possibles to her daughters."

Reid looked at her confused momentarily before going back to the board and pulling down another document. He turned the page before looking back up and saying, "OK, the grandmother's name is Mildred Jane Taylor."

Garcia started to rapidly type on her laptop before looking at him to ask, "birthdate?" Reid looked at her confused as he had already stated they weren't sure of Emily's actual birthday when Garcia looked up at him and said, "not Emily's, Mildred Taylor's birthday. Does it list her date of birth?"

"Oh." Reid looked down at the document and shakes his head, "no, not listed."

Garcia nodded and kept typing before then asking, "Does it list her hometown?"

Reid look at the document in front of him and then back up nodding as he said, "Commack, New York."

Morgan's head shot up and he said as he turned towards where Dave had been sitting "Wait, is that your hometown Dave?" He paused when he saw the chair empty having not noticed the elder profiler leave. Her turned back to the group before saying, "where did he go?"

Hotch frowned as he had noticed Dave quietly leave a couple of minutes earlier, "not sure but we can catch him up when he comes back."

The rest of the team looked around the room confused at Dave sudden absence until Garcia said excitedly, "OK, here we go. Mildred Jane Taylor. She had two children- a boy and a girl. Nathan and Emma. Mildred married early the following year to a judge named Keeler. Wonder if he knew that she illegally sold her grandchild. She died 2 years ago. Her husband retired shortly afterwards and is current under hospice care for terminal cancer. Nathan died 10 years ago." Garcia paused as she continued to type before stopped and looking at Emily as she said, "Emma's death certificate lists October 30th of that year as her date of death. Car accident."

The group was quiet for several minutes before Emily asked deflated, "So no living family."

Garcia nodded but before she could say anything, JJ placed her hand on top of Emily's and as she gave it a squeeze said, "there may be a father listed on the birth certificate."

Emily looked down and shrugged before she said, "yeah but it's unclear if he even knew of the pregnancy or if he wanted a child."

"I'll keep looking Gumdrop. Now that I have a name I can search for birth certificates with Emma Taylor listed as the mother. It's just going to take some time because not everything is digitized yet from then." Garcia said as she started typing away on her laptop again.

Emily looked over and gave her a sad smile before saying, "thanks PG." She paused before turning back to Reid and said, "Spencer, you mentioned earlier about possible reasons they would change the birthday that you would come back to."

"Yes, this group did routinely change birthdays or place of birth probably as a way to prevent anyone from easily creating a clean paper trail. However the 11 days from the 12th to the 23rd was long even for them. I believe there were other factors in play.

One of those factors is your biological father. I don't believe he was as much in the dark about the pregnancy as what is stated in the paperwork. I believe that they were concerned that he would return from deployment and challenge the adoption. Any challenge would have thrown light on their illegal operation which they wanted to avoid. He couldn't challenge the adoption if he couldn't find you.

The other likely factor is that they needed you to be older in order to finalize the adoption. According to state law at the time, for the process to be complete so they could finalize the adoption, you would have needed to be at least 30 days old. If you were actually born on October 23rd, then on November 13th, you would have only been 21 days old. That would have been another red flag if anyone had started to look into the adoption.

I also believe that both of these factors along with the professional positions the Prentiss' held is why the documents had extra levels of separation with names." After Spencer finished, silence filled the room.

After a few minutes, Emily looked up at her friends and colleagues sitting with her around the table. Nodding to them, she said, "thanks all of you," before she walked around the table hugging each one.

Hotch noticed she had made her way around the table and was now in an embrace with JJ as they spoke quietly to each other. Noticing the time on the clock Hotch said, "we should all head home. It's getting late." The group nodded and gathered their things before each of them walked out the door.

 **I will post the next chapter as soon as I have it ready. As hard as I try, it doesn't seem to be happening any quicker than every 7-10 days. In chapter 20- during a late night meeting one member of the team is drinking and revealing a shocking secret to another team member.**


	20. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER 20**

David Rossi walked through his front door. Taking a few steps forward he unconsciously dropped his keys into a glass dish on the table in the foyer as he did every day before tossing his crumpled up tie on the same table. As he walked further into the house, he placed his jacket and bag haphazardly at the bottom of the stairs before walking towards his home office.

Walking into the room, he immediately headed over to his desk and opened the top drawer, he pulled out a key ring. Walking over to row of wall to ceiling cabinets on the opposite side of the room, he inserted the key into the third cabinet before opening the door.

He stood there staring at the boxes in front of him sorrowfully. He reached in and pulled a box out before turning around and walking over to place it on his desk. After taking the lid off the box, he looked around the room before picking up the box and walking out of his office.

He walked through the living room and briefly looked around before entering the kitchen and placed the box on the island. As he took the files out of the box, he started to place them on the island before moving some files to the stools that were seated at the breakfast bar at the end of the island.

After look over the files, he dropped a pile frustratingly on the counter. As he moved away from the island, he bumped one of the stools which caused the papers to go flying. Turning around when he felt the papers fall, he looked at them before frustratingly waving them off and walked back out of the kitchen.

Back in his office, Dave walked back over to the cabinet and took out a second box. He looked down at the box he was holding and sighed before walking back out of his office towards the kitchen.

With this box, he walked over to the kitchen table and placed the box on it before he slowly started to carefully taking the items out and gently placing them on the table. As he scrutinized the items in front of him, he shook his head, stood up and walked into the dining room where he poured himself a drink.

After finishing his drink, he refilled his glass before turning to go back to the kitchen. After a few steps, he turned around and walked back and picked up the decanter with his another hand to bring back to kitchen with him. He is going to need it if what he suspected is actually true.

As he sat back down at the table, he pulled a stack on letters over towards him. Untying the knot that held the stack together, he started to reread the letters from Emma that he had received while deployed. And then the last one from Mildred telling him of the car accident and Emma's death. No mention of the baby. No letters after that to answer his numerous inquiries about his daughter.

He needed to talk to Hotch.

 **####**

Emily slowly walked down the back stairs, looking forward to some quiet time with her husband after the long stressful day. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw him walk into the kitchen holding his phone and coat.

As he approached Emily asked, "did you get a call?" pointing out the phone he was still holding out.

Hotch took a deep breath and nodded before he said regretfully, "Yeah, it was Dave. He asked if I could come over tonight. He sounded upset." Hotch didn't add that it sounded like Dave had been drinking.

After all of the news she had received today, the last thing Hotch wanted to do is leave her. He had planned to keep the evening open and follow Emily's lead.

However both knew how significant this phone call was. For as much as Dave was always first in line to help out anyone on the team, he rarely accepted help.

But tonight, he was going further and asking for help which Hotch could only think of a handful of times in the years that he had known Dave that this had happened.

He didn't want to refuse the request particularly with Dave's uncharacteristic behavior of heavily drinking and walking out of the team meeting earlier in the evening.

Emily nodded having been concerned since they noticed Dave missing from the workroom earlier and said, "I hope everything is OK. He just disappeared earlier. Go."

"Are you sure?" Hotch asked skeptically as he carefully observed her reaction.

Emily rolled her eyes at her husband's less than covert attempt to profile her before she said, "Yes. Dave doesn't just walk out of meetings without a word so something is wrong. Go talk to him." Emily took a deep breath and yawned before continuing, "but I hope you don't mind if I don't stay up until you get back."

Hotch smiled and stepped forward before pulling her into a hug. They stayed in their embrace for several minutes until Hotch turned and whispered in her ear, "of course not. Get some sleep and I'll be back as soon as I can." They pulled back before he moved back towards her as their lips met before he rested his forehead against hers and said, "Goodnight sweetheart. I love you."

"I love you too." Emily said before he walked out of the kitchen towards the door. She took a deep breath and sighed before turning and heading back up the stairs.

 **####**

Dave was sitting at his kitchen table looking down at a picture when he heard his doorbell ring. As he stood up, he tenderly placed the picture down on the table. He turned and quickly walked out of the kitchen towards the foyer. When he reached the front door, he opened it immediately seeing the tired yet concerned look of the Unit Chief.

Dave rubbed his face before shaking his head before he said, "Aaron, come in. Sorry to call you out this late. I lost track of the time."

Hotch nodded as he stepped into the house before Dave shut the door behind him. Standing in the entryway, what Hotch saw instantly concerned him as he noticed Dave's disheveled appearance as well as the uncharacteristic clutter in the entryway. Looking over at Dave, he said quietly, "It's OK. You sounded upset. What's going on?"

Dave looked at him then lead the way into the kitchen. When Hotch saw the kitchen, he became more unsettled. The clutter in the foyer had been minor compared to the disarray in the kitchen. The entire island was haphazardly covered with papers and files. More files were stacked on the stools that lined the counter with more papers that appeared to have been abandoned on the floor.

Hotch shook his head, wondering what had happened when Dave just walked into the kitchen, ignoring the mess and stepping over the papers on the floor. Hotch followed him towards the kitchen table.

What Hotch observed there sharply contrasted with the rest of the kitchen. Although the table was covered with papers, it was neatly organized as he would expect from Dave.

As he moved closer, Hotch could see that Dave had brought a crystal decanter that usually was kept in the dining room into the kitchen sitting close to a almost empty glass. Looking at it, Hotch was pleased to see that the decanter was still more than half full so while Dave had been drinking, it did not appear to be an excessive amount.

As they sat down at the table, Hotch noticed that in front of where Dave was sitting was a stack of letters. On one he could see that it was addressed to Dave however couldn't see anything other than the name. From the appearance of the paper, they weren't recently written.

Realizing that Dave hadn't said anything, Hotch looked over at the older man who was staring at what Hotch could see now was a wallet sized picture of what looked like an infant. The picture also appeared to be older, worn with one of the corners creased.

When he realized that Hotch was looking at the picture, Dave looked over at him sadly before gently placing the photo on the other side of him before he said, "I need to tell you something, Aaron and I need you to let me get it all out. Why I'm upset with make sense in a few minutes."

Hotch folded his hands in front of him on the table and nodded, giving Dave his full attention.

Dave took a deep breath and looked down at the table as he started, "I dated the same girl all through high school. I wanted to marry her. We planned to get married but there was a war going on and I was drafted.

Instead of going into the army I joined the Marines. The weekend before I deployed, I had leave and I came home. While I was home, she told me she was pregnant." Hotch silently gasped, now having confirmation that the rumors he had heard about Dave having a child were true.

Dave looked up at him and continued, "We both knew I couldn't stay. When I returned to base, I made changes to my paperwork so she would receive 75% of my paycheck while I was deployed and changed my life insurance so she was the beneficiary if I was killed in action. It wasn't much but it was what I could do at the time."

Dave sighed and ran his hand over the letters as he said, "we traded letters throughout her pregnancy. Because it took awhile for the mail to catch up with us, I received the letter telling me of the birth of our child the same day as the letter telling me of Emma's death. I continued to write, asking about the baby without any response.

When I was discharged after being injured 6 months later, I headed home as soon as possible to go see Mildred."

Dave paused and his voice had an angry tone when he continued, "she had gotten married and moved after Emma's death but when I finally found where she had moved to, she told me my daughter was gone and I just needed to accept it. She refused to even give me any pictures of the baby," he paused again as he picked up the picture off the table and looked at it, giving it his full attention for several seconds before looking back up at Hotch and saying tearfully, "I only have this one because it was in the letter Emma sent me after she was born."

Dave paused again and Hotch watched him as he gently placed the picture back on the table before he said, the anger back in his voice, "she also refused to tell me where Emma was buried.

When I got understandably upset, her husband got involved. He was a judge. Next thing I know they had a restraining order against me. I couldn't find out from anyone about what happened with the baby after Emma's death.

After I joined the FBI, I tried to find information about what happened with my daughter. I couldn't even find her birth certificate for a long time though I did eventually get a copy from the Vital Statistics office." Dave paused again as she picked up a piece of paper from the table that Hotch had seen had 'Certificate of Live Birth' typed along the top as Dave lifted it. As Dave focused on the document, Hotch could only see the back though he couldn't miss the indentions from the seal at the bottom of the page.

Dave shook his head as he carefully placed the document back on the table and when he made eye contact, Hotch could see the tears welling in his eyes as he said wistfully, "it was like she was gone without a trace and the only people who knew what happened I couldn't talk to."

Dave stopped and took a deep breath before he clasped his hand in front of him on the table and looked directly at Hotch as said unwaveringly, "Emma Louise Taylor was my girlfriend. Mildred Jane Taylor was her mother."

Hotch just sat in his seat, his jaw dropping as he heard what Dave said. After a few seconds, he shook his head before saying quietly with astonishment in his voice, "Dave."

Dave took a deep breath before saying after wiping tears away from his eyes, "What do I say to her Aaron? I didn't give her up. I wanted to be part of my child's life. I came out of the Marines expecting to raised her on my own."

He stopped and took a deep breath before continuing, "Mildred had never approved of our relationship. She didn't like me or want us to get married. That was one of the reason we didn't get married earlier. But I never suspected that she had sold our daughter. As much as I didn't want to believe it, I was led to believe that my child had died."

Hotch took a deep breath and said calmer than he felt, "Tell her the truth Dave. Tell her what you told me. Show her the letters and documents you have."

He paused looking at the items on the table in front of them before continuing, "but whatever you are going to do, if you want the news to come on your terms, you need to talk to Emily soon because the team is really close to pulling everything together.

Garcia is starting to run searches based on the information Reid found in the files. You know that she is going to be on this completely until they have answers. You don't want Emily to find out that way."

Dave was looking down at the picture as he nodded before looking up at Hotch to say quietly, "you're right. When?"

Hotch thought before answering, "come by the house tomorrow morning around 7. I'll take the kids over to the nanny at JJ's and then come back. I'll send Morgan a text moving conferencing until after lunch and have Blake check over any new cases that come to Emily's team until we arrive." He wanted to have Dave talk to Emily before Emily went to the office again. With Garcia's determined attitude the probability of Emily finding out inadvertently was too high if she was at the BAU. This was one discussion Dave and Emily deserved to have outside the scrutiny of the FBI.

Dave sighed and said, "OK."

After one last look at the table, Hotch stood up and said, "well, I'm going to head out. I'll see you in the morning."

Dave stood up as well and walked him to the front door. As he opened the door, he said, "in the morning. Thanks Aaron." After he shut the door behind Hotch, Dave turned and walked back to the kitchen.

####

Hotch quietly slipped into his bedroom after checking on the kids to see Emily sleeping peacefully in their bed. After undressing, he climbed into bed. Sensing his presence, Emily moved to cuddle up next to him without waking. Hotch wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight before placing a kiss on her forehead.

As he settled, Hotch found he couldn't sleep. He regretted that in just a few hours he was going to be turning Emily's world upside down. Disturbing the peace she currently was finding. He honestly didn't know how Emily was going to react to this news.

Hotch had been stunned tonight at the raw emotion, insecurity, and vulnerability that was atypical of the elder profiler. However, after hearing Dave's story, it was understandable.

This revelation was not at all what Hotch had been expecting when he had left his house tonight.

While he had heard the rumors of Dave having had a child, he had never imagined what had happened was what Dave described to him tonight.

Realizing he needed to get some sleep before this talk in the morning, Hotch turned closer to Emily and closed his eyes, letting the sleep pull him under.

 **AN: I'll post the next chapter as soon as it is ready. In chapter 21- Dave and Emily talk**


	21. Chapter 21

**AN: Apologies for taking so long to post this chapter. I was sick with the flu. It's a longish chapter for me ~5K. Hope you enjoy it.  
**

 **CHAPTER 21**

Hotch woke up with a start and looked at the clock. 5:45AM.

As what he had learned the previous evening started to run through his head, he knew he wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep. He sighed as he decided to start their morning routine.

He wanted to be back at the house after dropping the kids off as close to when Dave was scheduled to arrive as possible. He carefully eased away from Emily and slowly moved out of the bed, not wanting to wake her yet before heading to the bathroom to shower.

After showering he dressed in his suit pants and an undershirt, leaving his dress shirt, tie and suit jacket in their closet for now.

As he walked down the back stairs he decided to make breakfast before everyone else woke up. Walking into the kitchen he took the eggs, bacon, bread and butter out of the refrigerator. Once the bacon was in the oven, he got to work making scrambled eggs, Jack's current favorite breakfast food. As he wait for the pan to heat, he placed enough bread in the toaster. A few minutes later as he finished cooking everything, he headed upstairs.

As Hotch climbed the stairs, he could hear Jack moving around in his room. It wasn't surprising that the preschooler was awake given that Jack was a morning person. When he reached the top of the stairs, he knocked quietly on the door before opening it. When he entered the room, he immediately noticed that Jack was working on a puzzle on a multicolored rug on the corner of his room.

When he saw his dad, Jack ran over and gave him a hug. After Hotch placed him back on the floor after their hug, he told Jack that he needed to clean up the puzzle, make his bed and dress in the clothes Jack had chosen before bed the previous evening. Hotch mentioned that he had made scrambled eggs for breakfast and they would go down and eat as soon as he came back as long as Jack had already done what he had been asked. Jack nodded before scurrying over to start cleaning up.

Leaving in the room, Hotch walked over and opened the door to Natalie's room. As he entered the room, her head popped up. She started to fuss as he picked her up out of her crib. He started her musical mobile at the changing table before lying her down to change her diaper and dress her for the day. Her attention was temporarily diverted by the mobile, however she was already back to fussing again when he picked her up and grabbed a clean burp cloth before walking out of her room.

When he entered his and Emily's room, he immediately noticed that the bed was now empty. Before he could call out to her, Natalie's now cries brought Emily out of the bathroom in her robe still holding a brush that she had been using on her wet hair. As she walked closer to him, Natalie tried to throw herself out of his arms as she started to cry to get to her mother.

After Emily took the infant, Natalie immediately started to hit at Emily's bathrobe. Emily sat down in the glider in their room and after pushing her robe out of the way as got Natalie settled. Looking up at Hotch she said,

"Good morning. You were already gone when the alarm went off."

"I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep. Breakfast is ready. I'm going to take Jack down now to eat. I'll come back and take her in a few minutes so you can finish getting ready."

"Sounds good. What's did you make for breakfast?"

"Eggs, bacon and toast."

####

Emily was burping Natalie when Hotch walked back into the room. After putting Emily's mug of coffee on her bedside table and giving them both a kiss, he walked into their closet to finish getting dressed. He was working on his tie when she walked into the closet holding Natalie.

"Can you take her when your finished? I'll be downstairs in 10 minutes and we can get ready to leave."

Hotch nodded after he finished straightening out his tie before saying, "I'll take her now so you can get ready. I put your breakfast is in the warming drawer. Jack is brushing his teeth. As soon as he's ready, I'm going to take the kids over to JJ and Will's house."

Emily looked over at him surprised before saying, "Why aren't we going to drop them off on the way to the office like we usually do?"

Hotch walked up to her and took Natalie into his arms. He sighed and said, "Dave is coming over to talk to us before we all head to the office."

Emily narrowed her gaze at him before crossing her arms over her chest and said, "You just went over to talk to Dave's last night. What's wrong, Aaron?"

"Nothing is wrong Sweetheart. Dave should be the one to explain."

Emily shook her head at him, feeling that something was off as she said, "you know I don't like secrets."

Hotch sighed, knowing how much she didn't like secrets between them. He didn't either. But this wasn't his story to tell.

He looked at her, pleading with his eyes as he said calmly, "It's not a secret. An hour from now, you will know everything that I do. Dave just need to be here."

Before either of them could say anything else they heard running coming from the hall before hearing Jack yelling, "Daddy, Daddy, I'm ready. Is it time to go to Henry's?"

He stopped when he reached the door, looking into the closet where his parents were standing. He ran forward and hugged Emily's legs as he said excitedly, "Mommy. Good morning, Mommy. We had eggs for breakfast." Emily crouched down and gave him a hug and told him she hoped he had a good day.

From her crouch, Emily sighed before saying, "OK. Do you need help getting ready to go? When is Dave coming?" She stood up and walked up to him to give Natalie a kiss.

"Dave will be here around 7. I can get them. Go ahead and get ready and eat. I'll be back as soon as possible." Hotch said before walking out of the closet with both kids.

Emily watch them walk out of the room and shook her head, the uneasy feeling returning before the time on her alarm clock caught her attention. She quickly turned to start getting ready for work.

 **####**

After pulling up outside of the Hotchner house, Dave just sat in his car for a few minutes thinking about what he was going to say, how he was going to explain everything to Emily.

When Hotch had left to go home the night before, Dave had returned the decanter to the dining room, not wanting to be hungover when he spoke to Emily.

But the lack of alcohol after looking over all of the files last night in his kitchen, had led to the inability to sleep except for a few brief times when nightmares had woke him.

After that fateful meeting with Mildred all those years ago when she told him his daughter was gone, he had frequently woken up in a cold sweat, hearing the sound of a baby crying. He would jump out of bed and race through the apartment he had at the time looking for her. A couple of minutes later, he would be confronted with the empty rooms when the cries from his nightmares stopped.

As time went by, these nightmares along with the lack of a death certificate had fueled his search for what happened to his daughter.

However after years of finding nothing and being unable to talk to the person who knew what happened to his daughter, for his own sanity, he had needed to step back from actively investigating. He had carefully organized all his research into those boxes he had pulled out the previous night. They had never been far from his thoughts and he hoped that one day a new piece of the puzzle would come up and he would finally have some answers.

But last night the nightmares were back. He also couldn't get out of his head snippets of talks he had had with Emily in the time he had known her. Even before the last month, as Emily's mentor and friend for over 3 years, he had heard stories about her unpleasant childhood and how things that happened then affected her and still did affect her.

Today he was praying that she would hear him out. He had been looking forward to the day that he would meet his daughter and, as the years had gone by, thought that the day would never come.

Dave sighed and opened the car door and stepped out before turning to the rear door and opening it, removing a box before closing it again. He started walking away from his car and towards the front door.

 **####**

Emily stood up from the kitchen table and carried her breakfast dishes over and placed them into the dishwasher. Looking over the kitchen, she noticed that her husband had already done a thorough job of cleaning up after he prepared breakfast with dishes either in the dishwasher or drying on the rack beside the sink.

With the kitchen in good shape, Emily walked towards the entryway and checked her bag, making sure she had everything in it that she would need for the day. Once that was done, she looked at her watch, annoyed that only a minute had passed, not use to having downtime in the morning.

Emily had been hoping to get into the office early this morning to check in with Garcia about if she had found any further information for her on her birth parents. Now, depending on how long this meeting with Dave took, she would have to wait until later in the day to talk to Garcia.

But, Emily sighed, what was this meeting with Dave all about? Having a meeting like this wasn't like him. But Dave hadn't been acting like Dave either.

He had disappeared the previous evening at the BAU.

Then he had asked Aaron to come over later last night and now Aaron was acting off this morning.

After Aaron had left the previous evening, she had started to wonder what was the cause of his behavior.

If it was work related or about his books, he would have talked to Aaron in the office or over the phone.

She considered that he maybe retiring again though there would be more warning of that.

Her concern had increased since Aaron had mentioned that Dave was coming to the house this morning to talk to them. As well as Aaron's reluctance in sharing with her whatever they had discussed last night.

It reinforced for her that it was personal otherwise they would be discussing it at the office or at least with the rest of the team.

As she put her bag back down, she remembered that Derek had mentioned about Dave's hometown. Did that have something to do with it? Did he recognize the names? Was there a danger to her or their family by pursuing this search for her biological parents?

Feeling the worry start to build up, Emily shakes her head. No if there was danger, Dave would have spoken up immediately when Reid and Garcia were reviewing what they had found. He wouldn't have allowed Garcia to keep searching digitally if it could possible result in danger. He wouldn't stay quiet about something like that.

Thinking of Garcia, Emily decided to call and see if there were any updates. Just as she picked up her phone to dial, the doorbell rang.

 **####**

Dave stood nervously on the front step still holding his box when Emily opened the door, greeting him with a big smile.

"Morning Dave. Aaron should be back anytime. He said you wanted to talk to both of us." Emily said as she stepped back, allowing Dave to past her as he walked into the house.

She observed at his disheveled appearance critically also noticing that he appeared 10 years older than he had the day before.

"Yes, I do need to talk to both of you." Dave responded nervously as he followed Emily into the family room. She turned back to him and asked, "Can I bring you some coffee?"

Dave nodded as he said, "Yes, that would be great."

Emily cocked her head slightly before responding, "OK, I'll be right back. Make yourself comfortable," before she walked out of the room towards the kitchen.

Dave took a deep breath, realizing that this discussion may be harder than he thought it was going to be. He placed the box in the floor next to him before taking off his jacket. He awkwardly sat down on the couch before he stood back up.

A couple of minutes later, Hotch walked in through the front door. Seeing Dave nervously pacing alone in the family room, he asked, "Where's Em?"

Dave stopped pacing and took a relieved breath to see Hotch had returned before he answered, "In the kitchen, making coffee."

Emily walked up behind her husband holding 3 mugs and said, "Nope I'm back. Here you go Dave. Aaron, here's yours." as she handed each of them a mug.

Hotch cleared his throat and said, "Thanks. Why don't we all sit down?" Emily and Dave nodded in agreement. Emily and Hotch sat down on the couch while Dave sat on the chair.

Once they sat down, Emily looked at both of them and could see on their faces that she was the odd one out with knowing what was this discussion was about before she said, "OK, what going on guys. What aren't you telling me? I feel like there is something huge that you've been keeping from me."

Dave shook his head and looked at her before he said, "we're not keeping something from you. I just put the pieces together last night when Mildred Taylor came up."

Emily looked over at him confused as she said, "I don't understand. Did you know her? Morgan said she lived in your hometown."

Dave nodded and took a deep breath before saying carefully, "I did know her. I went to school with her daughter Emma," he paused before he said, "your mother."

Emily gave him a genuine smile before asking excitedly, "What can you tell me about her?" After what Reid and Garcia had stated last night, she had thought that she was going to need to rely on only snippets of information about her birth mother.

Dave smiled before he said, "a lot. I brought over everything I have in this box." He took a deep breath as he gestured at box next to him and then he reached forward and took her hands in his as he continued, "Emily, the first and most important thing you need to know about Emma is that she wanted you and loved you very much. She was thrilled but scared when she told me she was pregnant. Every letter she sent during her pregnancy detailed her progress and how she was looking forward to meeting you. The excitement was obvious in the letter she sent after you were born letting me know of your arrival. She was only with you for the first few days of your life but her leaving wasn't her choice but a tragic accident."

Emily could feel her eyes fill with tears at his words. What he had just expressed was reassuring, now hearing from someone that knew her that Emma had wanted her. The reality that her birth mother had died when she was only a few days old hadn't really sunken in yet. After wiping the sides of her eyes, Emily nodded, and said, anxious to see what he could tell and show her about her birth mother, "Thank you for that Dave. Can I see what you brought?"

Dave shook his head before he said quietly, "in a few minutes." He pauses and waited until they had eye contact before he continued, "we need to talk first honey and I'm not sure how you are going to feel about what I'm going to say so I'm just going to say it."

Dave took a deep breath and interlaced his fingers and he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his legs as he said, "I met Emma when we were 12. Her family moved down the street from where my family lived. We started out as friends but then during high school, we started dating.

I wanted to marry her and we talk about getting married after graduation. But there was a war going on and I was drafted a few months after high school graduation. I joined the Marines. After finishing basic training we had a weekend's leave before my unit deployed. I came home and when I arrived, she told me she was pregnant."

He pauses when he heard Emily gasp and saw Aaron put his arm around her shoulders. He took a deep breath before continuing, wanting to get the whole story out, "we both knew I couldn't stay. It wasn't because I didn't want to. I did wish we had had more time though. That we would have had time to get married before I deployed. Then Mildred would not have been able to give you away."

He paused again as he wiped the side of his eye before going on, " we traded letters throughout her pregnancy. Because it took awhile for the mail to catch up with my unit, I received the letter telling me of your birth the same day as the letter telling me of Emma's death. I continued to write asking about my daughter without any responses.

When I was discharged after being injured 6 months later, I headed home as soon as possible to see Mildred."

Dave stopped and fisted his hands before continuing, now with an angry tone as he thought about what had happened all those years ago and then what he had found out recently about how he daughter was treated, "she had gotten married while I was deployed and I had to search for where she had moved to. When I finally found her, she told me my daughter was gone too and I just needed to accept it. She refused to even give me any pictures of you so all I had was the one Emma sent in the letter after you were born. I carried that picture around in my wallet for years."

Hotch watched as Dave bent over and took the picture he had seen Dave hold the previous night out of the box, holding it out for Emily to see.

Dave took a deep breath as he continued, "I got … upset, her husband got involved. He was a judge. Next thing I know there was a restraining order against me. No one would tell me anything about what happened with my baby after Emma's death.

I tried for years to find information but it was like you disappeared without a trace. I couldn't even find a birth certificate for a long time. I search for a death certificate because I had been led to believe that you had died. I, of course, never found one."

As he finished, Dave took in Emily's stiff posture and that she was looking down at the floor, avoiding making eye contact with him. He had been relieved to get the whole story out but was now concerned that it had been too much too soon.

Before Dave could scrutinize her reaction too much, he along with Hotch watched as Emily stood up and walked over to the window on the other side of the room that overlooked the backyard.

After a couple of minutes, Hotch said, "Emily" and did not get a response. He tried again with a softer voice, "Em." but again, no response.

Dave looked up from his shoes at her standing at the window deep in thought. He sighed and stood up trying to mask the despair of her apparent rejection of him as her father.

"I'm going to go. I'm sorry." Then he turned, picked up his box and jacket, and started to walk out of the room towards the front door when he heard a voice behind him.

"Please don't leave. I want you to stay. It's… it's not you. I just need a few minutes…. to process." As Dave turned around, he saw that Emily had not moved.

"Take all the time you need, honey. There is no rush." Dave returned to the chair he had been sitting in and sat down while placing the box back on the floor.

After a couple of minutes, Emily said quietly, "Rossi, what was my name?"

Dave let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding before he mentioned the name he thought he would never say out loud again, "Sophia. We named you Sophia Alessandra Maud."

"Rossi?" Emily whispered from her spot by the window.

Dave took a deep breath and answered, "Yes."

Emily quietly looked out the window for a couple of minutes before asking, "What did she look like?"

"Emma?" Dave asked

"Yes." Emily said as she turned around to look at him though she did not move from her spot.

As the sunlight comes through the window surrounded her, Dave was able to see Emily, really see her. Not only as a colleague and friend but as his daughter. A mindset that he had never let himself go into before today.

He looked away from her and stared at a spot on the wall in front of him before turning back with tears in his eyes as he said, "Like you." He pauses and stood up without moving as he said, "my god, Emily, you look so much like her. Just as beautiful."

Dave gave a teary chuckled and when Emily cocked her head and looked at him curiously he continued, "I was just thinking of the day I came back to the team. Strauss was walking with me through the bullpen. You, Reid and Morgan were talking at your desks and when you turned to look at us…" Dave paused and looked away for a few seconds before looking back and continuing, "I had to do a double take because for a moment I thought I was looking at Emma."

Emily nodded as she remembered the day and look on his face when she turned around to look at him when Reid pointed out that he was in the bullpen. She chuckled before saying, "I saw the weird look you had on your face but I thought it was because Reid had the mask on and the noose around his neck."

All three of them laughed at that, it being no secret how much the team's genius enjoyed going all out for Halloween before Dave said, "Yes, well that was definitely weird. At least until I got to know him. I wouldn't think twice if I saw him like that now."

An awkward silence fell over the room until Dave asked, "do you want to see pictures?"

Emily nodded and replied, "I'd like that" as she walked across the room and sat back down on the couch.

Dave took a padded envelope out of the box and slid the pictures out. He narrated for them what was in each picture, thinking to himself that he needed to have copies made so Emily could have a set. This was her history too.

When he came to Emma's high school graduation picture, he paused before handing it to Emily. It was one of his favorites of Emma as well as one of the last ones he had of her. When he heard Emily gasp, he looked over and could see her running her finger over the picture before she said quietly, "she was beautiful."

Hotch watched as Emily and Dave interacted over the pictures. The tension of earlier had dissipated however there was still some expected awkwardness. That was going to take some time as they settled into their new reality.

As he watched them, he decided that they needed some long overdue 1:1 time.

He placed his hand on Emily leg and made eye contact with Dave before he said, "I'm going to head to the office. Come in when you are ready. We'll hold down the fort until then."

Emily looked at him hesitantly before asking, "Are you sure Aaron?"

He gave her leg a squeeze before he stood up and shook hands with Dave, "You two have some time to make up for. I'll call if anything comes up."

Dave held eye contact as he said, "Thanks Aaron." Hotch nodded recognizing the thanks was also for inviting him over this morning as well staying with them.

After Hotch left, they went through the rest of the pictures and once they were finished Dave

put them back into the envelope, Dave leaned down and took a piece of paper out of the box.

Holding it out to her, he said, "It took me a long time to get a copy of this. You should see it."

Emily looked at him curiously as she held out her hand, "what is it?"

"Your birth certificate. The real one."

Emily took the sheet and scanned the blue and cream colored paper while running her finger over the raised seal at the bottom.

name ….. Sophia Alessandra Maud Rossi ..… date of birth ….. October 23 ….. time of birth ….. 6:02AM ….. birth weight: 8lbs 5oz ….. birth length: 20 ½ in ….. Community Hospital, Commack, NY ….. mother: Emma Louise Taylor ….. father: David Michael Rossi …..

She looked back up at him with a look on her face as if she had eaten something sour as she said, "I can't believe you named me Maud."

Dave laughed before responding, "That didn't come from me. Emma insisted on it. She never said why though."

Emily sobered before she nodded and looked back down at the sheet before saying without looking up, "Natalie was almost the same size as I was."

Dave noticed as she kept her gaze down at the sheet that her expression turned sad so he asked, "what's wrong?"

Emily a deep breath before she said increasingly getting more upset as she spoke, "Everything I've ever known was a lie. My name. My birthday. My parents. Even the birth certificate I've always used is a fraud. I'm just thinking of everything I need to change. How many documents have incorrect information on them. My FBI personnel file. Natalie's birth certificate. Jack's adoption papers. My marriage license. What if…. What if..."

Dave leaned over and took her hands, "Emily breath. None of that was your fault. You gave them the documents you knew to be true at the time. Talk to your lawyer. Have Aaron set up a meeting with his contact in the prosecutor's office. Everything will work out. And if you'll have me, I'll be there every step of the way."

Emily nodded her head as she said, "thank you and you're right. I'll talk to Aaron about it tonight. Neil already knows about who handled my adoption. I'll need to go talk to him about this aspect specifically."

Before either of them could say anything else, Emily's phone buzzed. She groaned and pulled it out of her pocket, knowing it had to be important since Aaron was covering her team while her and Dave talked. And it was still early morning.

Pulling up her messages, she saw it was Donaldson announcing a mandatory meeting that would start in 45 minutes. She groaned before looking up at Dave with an apologetic look on her face.

Dave nodded before he said, "I know that look though it is usually me giving it. Need to go to work?"

Emily locked her phone and put it back in her pocket before she nodded and said, "Yeah, Donaldson is calling one of his 'mandatory' meetings in now 42 minutes." She made air quotes when she said mandatory and rolled her eyes. "I'm not his favorite person to start with so I should leave so I'll be there on time. I'm sorry."

Dave shook his head before she said, "No need to apologize. I understand. I'll leave the box here with you for a few days. I'd be happy to come back over to talk with you about anything else in there. Just let me know. I'm also going to arrange to have copies of all those pictures made for you."

"Thank you." Emily said as she looked down at the box. She stopped and looked around before saying, "I think it would be best to move it up to the office. I don't want the kids to get into it."

Dave nodded and leaned down to pick up the box. When he stood back up, he said, "OK, lead the way." Emily nodded and after walking out of the family room, headed up the front stairs. When she reached the office door, she unlocked it and held the door open for Dave to walk in.

He walked over and placed the box on what he knew to be Emily's chair before walking back out in the hallway.

When the reached the bottom of the stairs, Dave walked back into the family room and picked up his jacket. When he returned to the entryway, Emily was putting her coat on. He walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I can give you a ride. My car's outside. That way you can ride home with Aaron."

Emily nodded and smiled at him before saying, "Thanks." before both of them walked out the front door.

 **In chapter 22- the team finds out. How will they react?**


	22. Chapter 22

**AN: A huge apology for not updating this story for so long. I had a lot of chaos in my personal life for a while. Things have settled down(I hope).**

 **This chapter is shorter than I generally post but I wanted to get an update posted. I have about 60% of chapter 23 written so I hope to post that next week as well as parts of chapter 24 and 25. I have outlined the rest of the story and anticipate about 8-15 more chapters.**

 **Thanks to everyone for comments, follows, favorites and PMs. I appreciate your support.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **CHAPTER 22**

As Hotch worked at his desk later that morning, he tried not to worry about how Emily and Dave's discussion proceeded after he left the house so they could talk privately. While he had been there, the discussion had gone about as well as he suspected it was going to go.

Their reactions had been what he expected after talking to Dave the night before. Dave was nervous. Emily was shocked. Both had been insecure.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. At his reply of 'come in', the door opened revealing a tentative Garcia on the other side. She slowly walked into his office holding her ever present tablet as she closely watched him. She closed the door behind her and nervously walked up in front of his desk.

"Ah, sir" Garcia said as she fidgeted as she stood in front of him.

Hotch looked at her curiously, wondering what had happened. Generally Garcia only had this reaction when she knew, based on something she had been caught doing, that he was going to be getting an angry visit from one of the higher ups about her lack of professionalism.

Rubbing his forehead, Hotch really hoped that wasn't the issue today. He didn't want to deal with Donaldson or even Strauss right now. He took a deep breath to calm himself before saying, "what do you need Penelope?"

Garcia looked up at him then back down before saying, "Um, did Emily come in with you this morning? She wasn't in her office and her team said they hadn't seen her yet."

Hotch's head shot up as he closely observed her nervous demeanor. Thinking back to the previous evening, he remembered that she was going to continue searching for birth certificates connected to Emma Taylor.

Crap.

He had planned to call Garcia this morning and have her hold off on anymore searches since it was no longer needed. However in the rush to get everyone ready this morning and take the kids to Will and JJ's so he could get back to the house before Dave, it had slipped his mind. Shaking his head he answered, "no, she'll be in later today."

Garcia nodded as she said quickly, "Oh, OK," before turning and starting to walk towards the door.

As she placed her hand on the handle, she could hear him state matter of fact, "you were successful in your searches."

Garcia turned and saw Hotch standing up though still behind his desk. After briefly making eye contact with him, she quietly said, "yes, sir" though did not move away from the door.

Hotch took a deep breath before he said, "please keep what you found to yourself for now…"

Garcia interrupted nervously, "...ah, well, sir…." as she continued to glance between him and out the window at the rest of the in the bullpen.

Hotch looked down at the desk in front of him before quietly saying as he looked back up, "who else knows Penelope?"

Garcia looked at him and winced before saying in a rambling way, "well, Reid. He, of course, was with me when I was doing the search since he is lead on the investigation. Then Derek had stopped by and was there when the the result popped up on my screen…"she paused and started fidgeting with her hands.

"...is that it Garcia?" Hotch asked.

Garcia paused before slowly shaking her head while looking down at the floor as she answered, "no. JJ came in a few minutes later to drop off my coffee. It was her turn to pick up coffees today. She heard us talking before seeing the result on the screen."

Hotch sat back down in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose before he looked over at her and asked, "so what you're saying is that all of you know?"

Garcia carefully nodded her head as she said, "yes", before stopping with a thoughtful look. Then she started to ramble again, "well no. Blake doesn't know. Or at least she didn't when I came in here. Is it true, sir?"

"Garcia, have a seat." Hotch said as he walked towards the door to call the rest of the team up to his office.

As he waited for all of them to assemble in his office, Hotch thought about what exactly he was going to say or should say.

This wasn't his story to tell. It should be up to Dave and Emily to decide what they wanted to share.

However with the team now knowing that Dave was listed as Emily's biological father on her original birth certificate, Hotch wanted to calm the team so that Dave and Emily weren't ambushed as soon as they walked into the office later today.

He looked up after hearing his office door close to see the anxious faces of his team looking him.

 **####**

Dave looked up as the elevator doors opened on the 6th floor having been distracted on the ride up.

When they had arrived at the FBI building, it had been less than 10 minutes until Emily's meeting started so Dave had dropped her off at the main entrance before parking his car.

Their parting had been more awkward than their usual interactions though less so than early that morning. And he hated the awkwardness with her.

He had no illusions that the revelations weren't going to fundamentally change their relationship. Whether the change would be positive or negative remained to be seen until he and Emily could talk further.

Dave walked towards to glass doors before stopping. He had only heard a small part of Reid's summation the previous night because he had left in total shock when Mildred Taylor name was mentioned.

Now that he was past the initial shock that had enveloped him the previous evening, he wanted to take a closer look at the evidence that the team had been combing through for answers. All of it.

He needed to know what had happened to his daughter. He had looked unsuccessfully for her for years. Had he ever been close? Had he given up too soon? He needed answers.

The agreement with Strauss was they were only supposed to work on the evidence outside of work hours but today, Dave couldn't wait until then.

Looking into the bullpen, he noticed that the team was meeting in Hotch's office which struck him was strange. Usually when the team met, they would use the conference room.

He shook his head deciding not to think too much about the meeting. Hotch said he would send a message if he needed Dave to come in and there were no messages. Turning away from the doors, Dave decided to talk to Hotch later.

After entering the workroom and closing the door, Dave walked over to where Reid had the documents set up the previous evening and began looking closely at the board. Taking the adoption lawyer's intake document down along with Emily's adoption papers, Dave sat down at the table to read through them.

After 45 minutes, Dave looked up from the documents frustrated. He couldn't tell how Reid was able to connect Emily's adoption with the intake form MIldred Taylor had completed.

It was clear from the documents that this agency was where his daughter had ended up. His anger had increased as he read through that form. The things Mildred said. The money that had changed hands. All of the lost years from his child.

Unfortunately as time went on that anger was preventing him from processing all of the paperwork in front of him which was further frustrating him.

Putting down the documents down the table, Dave stood up and started pacing around the room. It wasn't long before a magnetic click that indicated that someone was attempting to enter the room. Dave looked over at the door just it was opening to reveal Hotch with a surprised look on his face as soon as he saw Dave already in the room. As he moved into the room, Dave could see Reid behind him talking to a blast from the past who was just as shocked to see him.

 **AN: In chapter 23 the identity of the blast from the past is revealed and the team finds out more about the case. Emily has a request for Dave.**


	23. Chapter 23

**CHAPTER 23**

Hotch watched the team leave his office and head back to the bullpen before sitting back down at his desk. He sighed and shook his head. The meeting could have gone better. But it also could have gone worse. Much worse.

When he told them that Dave and Emily were talking this morning after confirming for them what they had seen on the birth certificate, a wave of relief came over the room replacing the anxiety and nervous energy in the room when they first entered.

At least for the most part. It was clear to everyone in the room that Derek was angry.

Before he could consider how to approach Derek, there was a knock on her door followed by the door opening a couple of seconds later. When Hotch looked up, there was Katie Cole standing in his doorway.

Hotch stood up and said as he walked around is desk, "Katie, come in. It's good to see you."

"You too, Hotch. Sorry I couldn't get here sooner. We had a couple of back to back cases and I couldn't get away." Katie walked over to him and they exchanged a hug.

Stepping back from her, he gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. As she sat down, he walked over to the door to shut it. "I understand. I called because I was told that you may know about a case we are looking at?" Hotch said as he walked back around his desk and sat down in his chair.

"I'll help if I can. What was the case?" Katie asked.

Hotch took a deep breath before looking directly at her as he answered, "It involved Henry McRae and Peter Howard. I was told that it had been your case."

Katie's eyes widened as she gasped before answering, "Wow. Yes, it was. It was a tough case." She paused and looked down before looking back at him and asking, "what is the BAU's current interest in the case? Please don't tell me that either of them have a chance of getting out." She moved up to sit on the edge of the seat and looked at him, worried.

Hotch shook his head before saying, "no, nothing like that. It has become personal to the team. Very personal. We were hoping you could give us some information."

Katie looked back at him quizzically for several seconds before replying, "Sure. What do you mean by personal?"

Hotch smirked as he observed Katie's obvious careful assessment of him while she waited for him to answer. She had been out of the BAU for years however like for all of them, it was hard to turn off the profiler's instinct.

Hotch had discovered over the years that talking to a profiler was completely different than talking to someone outside their profession. But unlike most of the team, Katie like Dave and Cooper had known him as a rookie profiler and learned his tells before he had enough experience to shield them. So they along with Gideon and Max Ryan had always been able to read him more than he'd like.

Jolted back to the seriousness of the case, Hotch sobered before he stood up and gestured towards the door as he said, "let me show you."

Katie looked at him intrigued by the range of emotions she saw flash across his face just before he stood up. Not sure where they were going or what she was about to see, Katie stood up and followed him out of his office and down into the bullpen which as empty except for Reid. He walked over to Reid before saying quietly, "Can you join us in the workroom?" Reid nodded as he and Katie followed Hotch out of the bullpen.

As they were walking down the hall, Hotch pondered that Dave and Emily needed to hear what Katie had to say probably more than any of them. As they reached the door to the workroom, Hotch swiped his badge and was surprised when they walked into the room that Dave was already in the room, pacing. As he looked at him curiously, Dave said, "Emily got called in for a meeting with Donaldson."

Hotch nodded and looked down at his phone to send Emily a text message that Katie was there and to come to the workroom when she was done.

Though Emily had agreed before Hotch first contacted Katie that he could share with her why they were asking, Hotch still wanted Emily to know Katie was in the building so she could come and talk to her if her schedule allowed it.

Looking back up, Hotch saw Katie walk over to Dave to greet him, "Dave, it's good to see you. It's been a while." as he pulled her into a hug.

"Hi Katie. Thanks for being here." Dave said as they both moved a step back.

Katie smiled briefly at him before saying as she looked back and forth at Dave and Hotch, "sure. I'm happy to help. I have to admit I was surprised when Hotch mentioned the which case you are looking at. They were convicted and have been in jail for years. What's going on with this case?"

Hotch could see the uneasiness cross Dave's face. Knowing it was going to take some time to explain everything, he gestured to the table and said, "let's all sit down. As I mentioned, our interest in this case is personal for this team which is why we are working out of this room instead of the bullpen."

They all nodded and moved towards the table. Once everyone was seated, Katie looked to Hotch who was sitting next to her and said,"in what way is it personal?"

Before Hotch could say anything, all of them heard Dave say in a quiet voice from across the table, "it's Sophia. We found out what happened to Sophia."

As he finished, all of them could see as Katie sat up straight in her chair, looking back at Dave with a complete look of surprise on her face.

After a few moments, she gathered her thought and exclaimed, "WHAT!? Your Sophia, Dave?"

Hotch looked at the interaction intrigued but confused. He had rumors early in career that Rossi had had a child. However until he arrived at Dave's house the night before, he didn't know if those rumors were true.

However, it was obvious that Katie knew much more about this part of Dave's life than Hotch or the current team had known. With just a name, Katie knew exactly who Dave was talking about and that she had been missing. Reid was looking on with similar interest, cataloguing the interaction.

At Katie's question, Dave nodded before she continued, "but how? I looked through the demographics for all the kids and Sophia wasn't there."

"We approached the case a different way. They had changed her birthday and where she was born. She was one of the children that wasn't identified." Hotch interjected.

Katie looked down at the table and shook her head before saying quietly, "I can't believe she was there the whole time and I missed it."

Dave looked up at her confused before he said, "What?"

Katie looked up at him with unshed tears in her eyes as she said without looking away from him, "Dave, I know you didn't believe she had died. I also know that it wasn't your choice to stop looking for her. On cases I worked I kept my eye out. If nothing else, I wanted to bring you some concrete information about what happened to her. And I wasn't the only one."

As she finished, Dave looked down at the table and nodded. Katie was right. He hadn't believed that his baby had died and it hadn't been his choice to stop looking for her. He looked back up at her as he said, "I never knew you were doing that."

She nodded before she replied, "I didn't want to get your hopes up. So tell me how you found her."

Dave and Hotch exchanged looked and Dave nodded at him. Hotch turned to Katie and put his interwound hands on the table in front of him before he began, "a few weeks ago, the woman who my wife grew up believing was her mother died..."

"...wait, I thought we were talking about ..." Katie interrupted.

Dave nodded at her confusion before stating, "it will make more sense in a few minutes."

Katie nodded back at him before turning her attention back to Hotch as he continued, "when the estate went into probate, she gained access to a safety deposit box left to her by the man who she thought was her father, which contains among other things, her adoption papers. She hadn't known previously that she was adopted.

I recognized who McRae and Howard were when I looked at the adoption papers from when I worked in the prosecutor's office. I had just started there when they were preparing to take this case to court.

After I told her about what I know about the case against them, she wanted to know more about how she came to be adopted. I contacted someone I knew in the prosecutor's office and that is how we got access to all of these records with some help from Strauss."

Katie nodded before sighing as she said, "that's probably because last I heard, there were still people out there who were involved, particular in the money end. They want to preserve the records for future cases."

"That is our understanding as well." Hotch nodded before he replied, "the team has been going through the records and yesterday, Reid presented to the team a link between the adoption papers and Mildred Taylor."

"Emma's mother." Dave added.

Katie looked around at the three men in the room with her before asking, "but how did you find the link? We looked after we cracked the case and then the prosecutor's office worked on it for 2 years."

Hotch nodded and gestured at Reid and the dry erase board before saying, "I'm going to ask Reid to explain since he found the link. Dave, do you want to switch seats so you can see this too?"

Explaining all the documents had been Hotch's rationale for asking Reid to come down with him and Katie. The presence of Dave was an added bonus especially after seeing Dave frustration at the documents when they walked in. Hotch recalled that Dave had slipped out of the room the night before shortly after they had begun.

Reid walked up to the front of the room and as Hotch and Dave switched seats he quickly organized the documents. Once everyone was settled at the table he used the documents to explain what he found as he had done with the team the day before. He stopped intermittently as he presented each document to Katie and Dave to allow them to review each piece of evidence.

"So the number that couldn't be identified is the docket number for the adoption?" Katie asked as she went back through all of the paperwork as Spencer finished.

Reid cleared his throat before answering, "yes." before he paused before continuing, "at least in this case it was."

Katie looked up at them as she said, "so with a list of McRae's cases, they could potentially identify the rest of the children." After the rest of them nodded, she turned her attention to Hotch and asked, "have you shown this to the prosecutor's office yet?"

Hotch shook his head as he said, "not yet. Reid just found the connection yesterday. I'm meeting with the ADA on Monday and plan on showing her at that time." The meeting had been set up before Reid found the connection because Hotch was going to present to her what he had found on the financial side of the case concerning William Reid. Now he planned to review both pieces with the ADA.

"What is it Katie?" Dave asked concerned as he noticed Katie repeatedly going over the documents.

Katie sighed and looked over at him, knowing that what she was able to say was probably going to upset not only him but at least Hotch as well. As much as she wanted it to be true for her friend, there was a huge piece of this that wasn't adding up for her.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "I see the evidence but have you done anything to verify what you suspect." After he shook his head, she lowered her eyes as she said, knowing her words were going to hurt him, "I'm sorry Dave but I've seen pictures of Emma and I see you and I just can't see the two of you having a child with blonde hair."

Dave looked up and looked over at her confused before looking over at an equally confused Hotch and Reid before exclaiming, "Blonde? What do you mean?"

Katie pointed to the documents and said, "these show that Aaron's wife is your daughter. I've met his wife and I don't see it."

As Hotch listened to her, he remembered the last time he had run into Katie and the reason for the confusion was suddenly clear. He looked over at her and an increasingly upset Dave and said calmly, "Katie it was my ex-wife Haley that you met. We divorced 4 years ago and she was killed in a car accident over 2 years ago." As he spoke, Hotch could see Dave taking in what he was saying and visibly relaxing.

Hotch pulled his wallet out of his pocket and took out a picture and handed it to Katie before he said, "this concerns my wife Emily. We've been married for 3 years. Haley was Jack's biological mother though Emily adopted him after Haley died. The baby is Natalie, my daughter with Emily.

Looking down at the picture, Katie could now see why the profilers were so willing to believe what the documents were indicating. However, given how this criminal group operated, her concern still stood.

As she handed the picture back to Hotch she said, "Beautiful family Aaron. Thanks for clearing up the confusion. But you both need to consider verifying the findings of these documents especially considering how many basic changes they made. I'm certain the ADA will say the same thing. It was standard for the court proceedings when they tried the original case."

"We'll need to talk to Emily." Hotch replied as Dave nodded.

Katie looked thoughtful before looking over at Dave and asking, "How well do you know her? Emily?"

Dave looks over at her and says, "I've seen her just about everyday for the last 4 years. The first I saw her I thought I was looking at Emma." As he said it, there was a nostalgic look on his face.

Katie looked at him confused before asking, "Really?"

Dave looks at Hotch and then back to Katie before saying, "she works here as an agent. She used to be on our team but is now Unit Chief of the training team. It was who I mentioned to Aaron about being in a meeting when you first came into the room."

Before anything else could be said, the lock released on the door and in walked Garcia, JJ and Morgan. Introductions were made before the group settled around the table. After everyone was seated, Hotch asked Katie about her knowledge about the case. Unfortunately a check of his phone had the message from Emily that she was still held up but would be down as soon as she could.

Katie sat back to gather her thoughts and to push down her annoyance at the scowls that Agent Morgan had been shooting at Dave since he walked into the room. Leaning forward in her seat with her elbows on the table, she looked at the assembled group as she started,

"I first became involved with this case because the BAU had been asked to consult on a series of kidnappings that were similar but not close enough to be conclusive that it was the same perpetrator. As it turned out it wasn't always the same person doing the actual kidnappings though they all worked for this group.

One day, I got a call that there had been another kidnapping from a mall though this time, they had a lead on who did it. Before that, the kidnapper and the baby would disappear without a trace.

I quickly headed to the command post and learn that at the mall where the kidnapping had occurred, there were some teens recording each other with camcorders and happened to catch the kidnapping happen along with good video of the actual UNSUB. One of the kids was able to sneak out to the parking lot and identify the car used to get away as well as the direction they headed.

As the police canvassed the mall, they came across surveillance video at one of the stores which gave them a license plate number. An APB was issued and we were contacted a short time later by several truck drivers who were travelling on the same road as the car and heard about the APB from their scanners. Several unmarked cars were scrambled onto the road to follow the car without it being obvious that they were being followed.

When the car came to a warehouse, we assembled several teams, surrounded the warehouse and went in and arrested everyone. The baby was thankfully fine and being prepared to turned over to his new adoptive parents. After a check at the hospital, he was returned to his anxious biological parents while the rest of us tried to make sense of what we had just walked into.

As we waded through the evidence, it quickly became clear that this was bigger than a single kidnapping or only a single UNSUB was involved. As a continuation of our luck, Mr Howard happened to be at the warehouse that day. As we would find out during the investigation, that rarely occurred but on this particular day, he was going to be personally handing over the baby.

With his then known involvement and arrest, we were able to get the warrants that we needed. Judge McRae was arrested as he tried to flee the country. The social worker that had been their partner was arrested in Canada and was extradited. Several other arrests were made though we all knew there were more people involved given the size and scope of the illegal activity and that they had been in operation for over 20 years."

Katie paused and took a drink of water before continuing, "as we investigated, we learned how they started. If you can believe it, they had good intentions at the beginning. It was initially a reaction to a number of infants being abandoned in unsafe places by parents who didn't want them and/or couldn't take care of them. Many of whom died of exposure. You need to remember at this time Safe Haven laws didn't exist. The three men had come together to discuss how they could decreased the number of abandoned babies."

"So you want us to be thankful to these people?" Derek asked outraged.

Katie glared at him briefly before saying calmly, "no not at all. I'm just pointing out what we found in the investigation. The evolution in the actions of the group. I thought as profilers it was what you would want to hear."

Hotch said, "We do Katie."

She looked over at him and nodded before continuing, "They came up with the plan to offer parents money to bring them unwanted babies who they would then adopt out. Mr Howard was already working as an adoption attorney. The information was slowly put out there and over the next couple of years, it gave them a steady intake of babies that could be adopted.

Then very quickly, they became greedy as they also had attracted through word of mouth an elite clientele who came to them to adopt and were willing to pay a premium for what they wanted. And from there things escalated, accepting babies that legally couldn't be put up for adoption such as in Dave's case to later the kidnappings. They better than most people knew what they were doing was wrong and they didn't care and just keep doing it because of the money and power it gave them.

After we had a solid case, we handed it over to the prosecutor's office for trial. I was offered a Unit Chief position with Crimes Against Children and decided to accept it which is what took me away from the BAU." Katie paused and looked around the table at the group before continuing, "does anyone have any questions for me?"

As questions were being asked and answered, Dave could feel his anxiety rising. Knowing he needed to get out of the room, he reached over and touched Katie's arm to get her attention. When she looked over at him, he said, "I need to go. Thank you for coming and sharing what you know. I'm glad to know now that you didn't stop looking."

Katie gave him a sad smile before they briefly hugged. Looking at him, she said, "I know you and the rest have had my back too. Take care and let me know what you need. And remember what I said."

Dave said, "I will." before he nodded to the rest of the team and walked out of the room, not ready to talk to any of them yet.

 **####**

Emily was sitting at her desk making progress on some busy work that Donaldson had assigned to her during their meeting that morning, frustrated that she couldn't go down to talk to Katie Cole. Emily was hoping that the former profiler could help her make sense about everything she had learned over the last few weeks.

However, she knew that the team was not supposed to be in there during work hours and until she had completed her task for Donaldson and sent it to him, she couldn't risk go in there. If she did and he came looking for her, it could cause trouble not only for her but for Aaron and his entire team as well as Katie.

While she had been waiting for some searches to process, she had called Mr Anders to discuss with him what she had learned and what should her next steps be. After briefly updating him as she had learned over the last few days as Aaron had already discussed with him the concerns about her adoption, he had suggested she come into to meet with him ASAP to discuss her legal options.

Before they had hung up, he had gently suggested that she talk to Dave about a DNA test saying it would strengthen her case when they went to court along with the evidence since there are inconsistencies with her original birth certificate. She had said she would talk to him.

Now she wasn't sure what to do or how to approach him with the request. She didn't want to hurt him after hearing that morning what he had said. Or for him to become angry with her. The ironic thing was that this type of dilemma was generally one she would go to Dave to talk through with her.

Before she can think anymore about it, her computer dings that the searches that she was running are done. Refocusing her thoughts back to her assignment, she completes what she needs to before emailing the whole thing off to Donaldson.

Relieved that that is finally done, Emily takes a deep breath while standing at her desk. Shaking her head, she knows that she just needs to talk to Dave and explain to him what Neil suggested. He had been the one to suggest she talk to Neil and had offered his help.

Walking out of her office, she lets her team know she will be on her cell. As she arrives in the bullpen, she sees that no one from the team is there. As she starts down the hall towards to workroom, she sees Dave walking towards her.

As he approaches her, Dave stops and says awkwardly, "Hi Em."

Emily smiles at him briefly before saying, "Hey Dave. I was hoping to run into you. There is something I need to ask you."

"Of course." Dave said before looking around them and pointing out an empty conference room across the hall. Once they were inside, he closed the door to give them some privacy before continuing, "let's talk in here. What can I do for you?"

Emily took a deep breath before starting, "after my meeting with Donaldson and while I was waiting for some data, I called Neil like we talked about this morning."

"Good. I'm glad. What is the plan?" Dave said calmly as he took in Emily's nervous demeanor. He could tell she was close to just changing her mind about asking whatever it was she was going to ask and he didn't want that to happen.

"I need to go in and see him. He did make one other suggestion that I would need your help with." she said.

Dave looked at her and reached out and took her hand as he said, "of course. What do you need? I was serious when I said I would do what I can." He could feel the tension radiating off of her.

Emily looked down at his hand on hers and took a deep breath before quickly rambling, "I'm happy to hear you say that. What he suggested was a DNA test. He said that I would most likely need one for court. And because of the difference on the birth certificate…."

Emily stopped but did not look up at him when he squeezed her hand. Dave could sense her body stiffen and could see evidence of a cringe even without being able to fully see her face. He could feel his angry grow at what she had experienced growing up that she was this worried about making a simple request. She was this nervous to ask that they do a simple test. One that yes would have great ramifications but it wasn't like she was asking for one of his kidneys. Though he knew that even if she was, he wouldn't hesitate to do that either. He sighed and resolved to make sure that he would make sure she knew she could always come to him.

Dave closed his eyes and focused on calming his anger, knowing that if Emily saw it, she would believe that it was directed at her and not at the circumstance of how she grew up.

Once he felt calmer, he squeezed her hand again before raising her chin with the other hand until she was looking at him. He smiled at her as he said, "Emily, it's fine. Katie recommended a DNA test as well for the same reasons. Also she said that in the initial case, they did them with all of the kids." Dave was relieved that at his words, Emily was visibly relaxing. Knowing he was on the right track, he continued, "tell you what, let's head down to Evidence Processing now and have one of the techs collect the samples. We should have the results in a couple days and you will know when you go into see Neil."

"Are you sure you have time now? You looked like you were headed somewhere." Emily asked hesitantly. She wanted to get the test done but didn't want to inconvenience Dave since it was only her that needed the results for court.

Dave smiled at her before saying, "Nowhere that can't wait."

"Thank you." Emily responded quietly.

"There's nothing to thank me for, kiddo." Dave replied as they walked out of the room and down the hall towards the elevators. He was pleased that they had gotten over another hurdle.

 **####**

After Dave left, Derek huffed and crossed his arms in front of him.

Hotch looked at him and raised he brow before asking, "Is there a problem?"

Derek stood up and started pacing as she said, "Yeah, man. He just walked out again. Did he walk out on Em too? I thought you said they were talking this morning."

"They were talking until Emily got called into a meeting with Donaldson. Dave drove her in so we could ride home together. That meeting is why she isn't here right now." Hotch replied while trying to keep his cool because he knew blowing up at Morgan right now wasn't going to help any of them. He relaxed somewhat when he saw Morgan relax as he processed what Hotch had said.

Before anyone could say anything else, Katie's phone started beeping. Hotch looked over at her and asked, "Is everything OK?"

Katie sighed and shook her head while still looking down at her phone. After typing in a response to the message, she looked up at the group and said, "I need to get back to the office. Something has come up. Before I go, I need to say something." She paused and looked around at the group before continuing, "I've known Dave for a long time. I started here a few years after he and Gideon started the BAU. All of us from that time knew about Sophia though from your reactions, it seems that none of you did". She paused again and paced in the room as she said, "he wanted to find her. To raise her. The commonly accepted opinion though was that she had died but Dave didn't believe that."

"Then why did he stop looking for her." Morgan asked, calmer than he was a few minutes earlier though still with a perceptible edge to it.

Katie shook her head and looked at the group sadly before saying, "that isn't my story to tell. But he did look for years and could never get anything definitive on what happened to her. I'm guessing he still has all of his research squirrelled away somewhere." She smiled at the slight head nod from Hotch, knowing that he had just confirmed it for her.

Katie stopped pacing and put her hands on the back of the chair that she had been sitting in before saying, "before I leave, I want to leave all of you with a few thoughts. When it came down to it all those years ago, Dave had two horrible options to consider about what happened to his daughter.

On one hand, she was dead. For a parent that is the worse pain imaginable.

On the other hand was that his child was out there somewhere and he had no idea if she was being taken of properly. After working in this job, I'm sure all of you can understand how that possibility would be terrifying. For him. For any of us.

Which of those options is 'better'? Either would be hell.

I understand that you all empathize with what Emily has and is going through. I do too. I'm glad she had so many people that care for her around as she works through this new normal.

But also consider that Dave has also been through hell. The hell no parent should ever have to go through."

Katie turn and looked right at Hotch before saying and she picked up her bag, "Aaron, I would be happy to talk to Emily if she would like. Just have her call or text me and we'll set something up."

Hotch stood up and met her at the door and gave her a hug before he said, "Thanks Katie. I'll let her know. Thanks for coming out here today."

"Happy to help. It was nice to meet all of you." Katie said before she gave one last wave to the group and walked out of the workroom.

Hotch looked over at his team still sitting at the table and said, "OK. Let's get back to work before anyone comes looking for us."

 **AN: In Chapter 24- the DNA results are in. Dave overreacts at a misunderstanding and has to accept the consequences. I will try to have it up next week but most likely it will be the following week.**


	24. Chapter 24

**CHAPTER 24**

For the last 20 minutes as he sits in the lobby of the director's office, Dave Rossi rubs the bruises forming on his hand.

He had watched as Strauss came in and look at him intently before disappearing into the director's inner office. He had heard yelling coming from the meeting that was going on in there along with his name yelled several times.

Just a couple of minutes earlier, Donaldson had suddenly opened the door and glared at Dave as he walked past him and out of the office. Dave had glared right back at him while internally pleased to see the bruise forming around Donaldson's eye.

Dave was pulled out of his thought when he heard his name. Looking up, he could see an annoyed Strauss standing in the doorway of the director's office, gesturing for him to come.

Dave walked slowly into the office and sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk that the director gestured to as Strauss sat down in the one next to him. As soon as they were seated, the director leaned forward, resting his forearms on his desk as he said, "Agent Rossi, I'm going to get right to the point. Assistant Director Donaldson has made some troubling allegation against you. Allegations that if true will not be ignored."

Dave sighs and nods before saying, "Understood Director."

The director had been Dave's Unit Chief on his first assignment after graduating from the academy. Throughout the years, they had stayed in touch as assignments and promotions had taken them in different directions.

The director looked at him and frowned before continuing, "we noticed when he was in here earlier, the assistant director appears to have been hit in the face. He stated that you are the one that hit him. Is that true?"

Dave looked down at the floor before looking up and meeting the director's eye and said firmly, "It is."

The director widened his eyes at the admission before exclaiming, "Why David, what possessed you to strike him? You are a senior agent. You know better than to hit a superior."

"I had my reasons." Dave answered. Experience told him based on the look on the John's face that he needed to tread carefully.

However, it hadn't even been an hour yet since he and Emily had received the DNA results. They had only had a few minutes to talk before Donaldson had interrupted them and started hurling accusations. Dave didn't know how Emily wanted to handle telling people at work outside the team. He didn't want to say anything without taking to her about it first. For now, he would accept the consequences for hitting Donaldson.

The director continued to glare at Dave. Strauss, who until this point had quietly observed the interaction looked over at Dave and said sternly, "and just what are those reasons Dave. Donaldson wants you fired. If he takes this to a review board it may just happen."

When Dave did not respond to her, the director used both hands to bang on his desk before stating angrily, "then I will need to assume that what he told me is correct then. And it's not just you that he wants sanctions against after this incident. He also wants them against Agent Prentiss."

Dave's head shot up at the mention of her name and he answered forcefully, "leave Emily out of this."

The director shook his head as Rossi's glared at him as he stated, "no Dave that's not how it works.

We had a frank discussion before you came out of retirement about the changes in fraternization rules and what would be expected from you. You stated at then that you understood and would follow these rules.

But now we have come to learn that you are having obviously questionable contact with another agent. First last week sneaking into a conference room and then today in a hallway when you kissed her.

And as if that isn't bad enough it is with someone married to one of your team members and is young enough…." He stopped his train of thought but it was too late. Everyone in the room knew what he was going to say. They all also knew why it was a sensitive subject for Dave.

After several minutes of complete silence, he looked him in the eye and said bitterly, "just say it John. She's young enough to be my daughter." Dave paused and took a deep breath before continuing, "you are way off base with the accusations. And for the record, the kiss today was on her cheek. If you need to verify it, I'm sure there is a surveillance video that you can check."

The director was beyond relieved to hear Dave's denial of an intimate relationship with Agent Prentiss as he could also see was the case with Erin Strauss. The potential ramifications of such an indiscretion had started to fill his mind starting with the implosion of Dave's team.

He had been shocked when Donaldson had made the accusation. Hotchner's BAU team was known in the Bureau to be very close. In all the years he had known Dave and all of his faults, he couldn't believe that Dave would cross that line.

However that did not solve the issue at hand. Looking at him irritated at the continued avoidance of answering the questions, the director said firmly, "if I'm completely off base, then tell us what is going on before Donaldson's accusations gain momentum." He paused before continuing, "he wants to investigate not only the two of you individually but also your team. Additionally, he is calling into question Agent Prentiss' promotion since you suggested her for the position."

Dave looked back at him wide eyed. This was worse than he thought.

Much worse.

He couldn't let the whole team suffer for a lapse on his part. Dividing the current team had been discussed in the past in passing. However now that there were several new profilers trained, a review board could easy recommend forming new teams.

And for Emily an investigation could damage all the career advancements she had made. Yes, he had recommended her however that was because he knew, as her mentor, she could do the job. Strauss had fully supported the recommendation. The only one with negative comments on her performance since she started to lead her team was Donaldson.

Dave stood up and started pacing the room as he said, "That rat bastard. Since he's become assistant director, he has been after the BAU, my team and especially Emily." He stopped and looked at both of them, "you know that. You both do." Both the director and Strauss looked at each other and nodded as he said that.

Donaldson had gone on record multiple times doubting the usefulness of profiling referring to it as voodoo. He had not been supportive of expanding the profiling training program unlike the director and had wanted to dismantle the BAU instead. He had repeatedly stated that the manpower and budgetary resources should be utilized differently.

It also wasn't a secret that Donaldson had been difficult with Emily. They, along with everyone else, had seen it in meetings and anytime he spoke of her. It had never been enough for a censure but the negative vibe was something they had both picked up on in the interactions.

Still standing Dave walked up behind the chair he had been sitting on and rested his hands on the back of it. "Emily was and is the right person for her job. On more than one occasion, you have mentioned to me personally how well she is doing in it." Dave exclaimed.

He wouldn't risk a review board inquiry into her job performance. She had been through enough the last few weeks.

The director sighed before nodding as he said, "I know that however a review board may see things differently especially in light of these allegations." He paused before looking directly at Dave and saying, "I'm going to ask you again Dave - what is your relationship with Agent Prentiss?"

Dave sighed as he realized that if it wanted to prevent this from spinning out of control he would need to share the test results he and Emily had just received today. He wasn't ready to share them with anyone until the two of them were able sit down and talk. However now he felt like his actions has forced his hand.

If he walked out without saying anything, there was a significant risk that it would be too late to stop the investigation even if it was only in a day or two later.

For himself, Dave would accept the consequences. He screwed up and no matter how good it felt in that moment, he regretted the way he had handled the confrontation with Donaldson.

But he couldn't jeopardize the BAU, the department that he had co-founded and took part in making it what it was today.

He also refused to risk what could happen to his team during an investigation. Not to mention what could happen to Emily's position.

No he needed to let John know now and hope he could prevent things from progressing to a review board investigation.

Dave walked around the chair and sat back down in it. Looking the director straight in the eye, he said, "she…. she's Sophia, John."

The director immediately froze and look at Dave wide eyed before glancing over at an equally shocked Strauss before he exclaimed, "What?" as Strauss said, "How can that be?"

Dave leaned forward in his chair, resting his forearms in his legs as he answered quietly, "she is."

The director eyes wildly vacillated between Dave and Strauss who also had a look of shock on her face. Focusing his glaze on him, the director stated forcefully, "Dave, Sophia is dead. You accepted that years ago."

As the words came out, the director consider what was going on with his old friend. This had to potential to be much worse for the Bureau than the fraternization claims that had brought all of them to this conversation.

He was worried. He was worried about Dave's mental health status. He was also worried that Dave was suddenly chasing this ghost again after years of not speaking of her.

Additionally he was insisting that a fellow agent was his long lost daughter. A fellow agent with powerful parents. Unsure how she was reacting to the declaration, the director immediately decided to ask Strauss go speak to Agent Prentiss as soon as possible.

Dave shook his head and stated bitterly, "over the last week, I have come to see that accepting that was one of the biggest mistakes of my life."

Dave paused and took in the looks of complete disbelief on their faces. He took and deep breathe before saying calmly, "It's her, John."

Dave watched as the director and Strauss looked at each other seemingly have a silent conversation. Frustrated that what he was saying wasn't getting through, he turned to Strauss and said, "Erin, help me out here. You know what's been going on with Emily over the last few weeks."

Strauss looked back at him momentarily stunned before saying, "yes I do Dave but I don't know anything about her being Sophia."

"STOP!" Both Rossi and Strauss stopped and looked at perturbed director who was not use to being the last one to know something as significant as this. "One or both of you need to fill me RIGHT NOW in on what is going on. Start talking. One at a time."

Strauss and Dave look at each other and nod before Strauss starts with "did you hear that Ambassador Prentiss passed away a few weeks ago?"

"Yes, of course. Horrible car accident." the director comments while nodding. He had sent agents to Boston to help with the investigation of the accident.

Dave continued, "after the funeral, Emily found out that she was adopted. She hadn't previously been told this information."

Strauss nods before saying, "this is what I know. Aaron came to me a few weeks ago. When he looked at her adoption papers after she gained access to them, he noticed that her adoption was handled by McRae and Howard."

As she said that both Dave and Strauss saw the director pale and sink further into his seat. After a couple of silent minutes, he quietly said, "Shit." before slowly turning to Strauss and asking, "why was this brought to your attention at that point?"

Strauss nodded however before she could say anything Dave answered, "Emily wanted to know about her background. The team had offered to help in our off hours. But we needed the records from the prosecutor's office."

Strauss continued, "I became involved when the prosecutor's office balked at releasing the records. They are preserving them as it is still an open case. I worked with them in negotiations to have the records restricted to a workroom on the 6th floor with badge access to only those working on Agent Hotchner's team. It was also agreed that his team would pass on any findings that could help with further prosecutions..."

"... then 5 days ago, when we were discussing a break that Dr Reid made, the name of Emma's mother was mentioned as connected to Emily's file." Dave interrupted before pausing while looking down. Looking back up at the director, he said, "She sold my baby, John after Emma died. She sold Sophia to those bastards. They changed her birthdate and where she was born before they sold her to the highest bidder. That's why I could never find her." Dave paused again before continuing, "I talked to Aaron later that night and he was with us when I told Emily the next morning.

What you mentioned earlier about us being seen going into a conference room together." Dave paused and the director nodded before Dave continued, "that was later the same day that I told her." Dave paused again before continuing, "she had come to me after talking to her attorney. He had suggested we have a DNA test done as she would need one if for any reason she went to court. We were just trying to have a private conversation."

The director nodded before saying, "that was what I was just going to ask- have you verified any of this?"

"I was going to suggest one to her as well after talking to Katie Cole. As much as the documents suggested she was my daughter, there were several demographic changes. Katie had also mentioned that DNA results were needed in court when they tried the original case. We went down to Evidence Processing that afternoon. There didn't seem to be any point of delaying it." Dave stated.

"Have you gotten the results yet?" Strauss asked quietly.

Dave nodded and took a single piece of paper out of his jacket pocket and held it with his hands in front of him as he stared down at it. He then looked up and said, "yes. That is what we had just received and were discussing when Donaldson came up to us today."

He gently unfolded the paper and slowly handed it to the director who adjusted his glasses before looking down at the document which he could immediately see was a Evidence Processing report with a FBI logo on the page. On closer examination he read that the probability that David Rossi was the biological father of Emily Hotchner was 99.9999999997%. He looked back up at Dave with a look of shock on his face and Dave said quietly, "It's Sophia."

The director handed the report to Strauss to look at as he said, "Dave, I don't know what to say. This is amazing after all this time."

####

After discussing the results among the three of them, the director took a deep breath as he contemplated getting the meeting back to its original purpose. Clearing his throat, he waited until he had Dave and Strauss' attention before saying, "Dave while I believe we will all agree that there were extenuating circumstance, the fact still remains that you hit Assistant Director Donaldson. Publicly. I can't ignore that." He pauses before continuing, "you are suspended without pay for 30 days."

It was close to what he had suspected. Dave sighed before nodding as he said, "Yes, sir. And Emily?"

The director gave a small smile before saying,"Agent Prentiss or I should say Agent Hotchner as Erin mentioned a few minutes ago that is what she prefers now, as far as I can see has done nothing wrong. There was no fraternization and as we have the surveillance video if needed.

I will talk to Donaldson. I'm certain that he won't want to pursue any further action against either of you once he hears that there is audio of the confrontation today including what he said to Agent Hotchner right before you hit him."

Dave nodded and the room was quiet until Strauss said, "use the time Dave. Get to know your daughter. And those beautiful grandchildren. You have been waiting for this for a long time."

Dave nodded before sighing, "yeah I have. I wish we had been able to talk more after we left Evidence Processing today before Donaldson sent her away and dragged me up here." He paused and sighed again before saying, "I just hope I haven't blown it with her."

Strauss nodded and said, "I don't think you have blown it though you may need to do some grovelling for a while. She is a smart, strong and independent woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself." She paused and gave a small smile before continuing, "I believe that is very close to what you told Aaron when we all met when they were seeking permission to stay on the same team when they started their relationship. You need to respect that as well."

"I know and I will try. This is all so new."

"Talk to her Dave. Plead temporary insanity. Promise to try and never do it again. Don't tell her that you never will again because well, as a father, you always want that option. And that way you won't be lying." He pause before smiling as he said, "just promise me, if you do hit someone again, please don't have it be another agent. At least not until after I've retire."

Dave smiled at the advice both had just given him. He knew both were speaking from experience with two of Strauss three children being girls in their early 20s while John had three daughter in their mid 20s to early 30s. "I promise I'll try John."

The director chuckled and shook his head while Strauss laughed at his comeback.

The director grew serious again as he said, "Dave, I'm sorry that she wasn't found earlier. Several of us keep looking, at least for awhile but we never found anything."

Dave looked up at him surprised, "Even after what Director Hughes said to me and the ultimatum?"

The director slowly nodded before he said, "yes, probably shouldn't be admitting this as the current director but that ultimatum was unnecessarily harsh. And it was to you not us."

"Katie mentioned something about it when I saw her a few days ago. I never knew that she or any of you keep looking." Dave replied.

Strauss smiled before she said, "there were several of us. Katie, the two of us, Cooper and Gideon. All of us at the time had small children at home. We couldn't imagine what it was like to not know where one of them was. We didn't say anything because we didn't want to get your hopes up. Things were difficult enough as it was."

The director took a deep breath before he said, " there was disagreement in the likelihood that she was still alive. We were looking for something. Anything that would have given you answers so you could have closure. I'm glad you finally have answers."

 **AN: I imagine the John in this chapter is the man that Reid spoke to at the beginning of Elephant's Memory. In chapter 25- conversations happen**


	25. Chapter 25

**CHAPTER 25**

JJ and Emily sat on a couch in the basement living room at JJ's house sharing a bottle of wine.

JJ had run into Emily shortly after Dave and Emily were confronted by Donaldson. As soon as she saw her friend upset, JJ had pulled her aside to find out what happened.

The entire team knew that Emily and Dave were waiting for the results of the DNA test. Emily explained what happened between Dave and Donaldson. Before she left Emily's office, JJ had invited Emily over for girls' night and they both had spoken to their respective husbands about staying with the kids.

After they had had some time to relax and a couple of glasses of wine, Emily filled her in on the results of the DNA test. JJ could see Emily's relief on finally having answers after the emotional roller coaster since the day she found out about the Ambassador's death. Along with relief, JJ could also see that there was something bothering her.

"Emily, I thought you wanted to know about your biological parents." JJ said remembering the day in the conference room when the rest of the team agreed to help her go through the paperwork from the adoption case.

Emily sighed and nodded as she leaned forward on the couch and rested her forearms on her legs as she said. "I do. I did." She pause and pushed her hair out of her face before saying, "I'm feeling overwhelmed. I've known this result was possible for days now but now that we have the official results, I don't know what to do."

JJ nodded at her friend and put her wine glass down on the table in front of her before looking over at Emily and asking, "What to do about what? Neither of you need to do anything that you don't want to do. You and Dave will need to discuss and agree on any changes that you both want." JJ reached over and took Emily's hands before continuing, "you know he cares about you Em. You two have had a special bond for years going back to shortly after he rejoined the team."

Emily squeezed JJ's hands before saying quietly as she looked at the floor, "I know. I don't want it to change."

"Things have changed but I think it's for the better. For both of you. What are you really worried about?" JJ asked as she closely watched her friend.

Emily took in a few deep breaths as she tried to put together how to explain to JJ what she was worried about, "I don't want to lose him, JJ. Dave hasn't been just my colleague for a long time. He has become my mentor and a good friend. What if I blow this? Do something he can't get past or that embarasses him? I won't just lose my biological father but everything else he is in my life. I haven't exactly had the best luck with parents."

JJ sighed as Emily spoke. She held back on reminding Emily that part of the issue with the people who raised her was they weren't really her parents and they didn't want to be either. While Emily didn't know that the Ambassador wasn't really her parent, she did.

Deciding to probe further, JJ asked, "Emily where is this coming from? Because I've gotten the opposite impression over the last few days in that now that he has found you, he isn't going to let anything or anyone interfere. Has Dave said or done something that makes you think he would react that way?"

Shaking her head, Emily sighs and looks down as she said, "Emma was the love of his life, Jayje. He has been looking for his child for 31 years and when he finds her, he finds out that she's well, me. I'm not a good person. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of."

JJ looked sympathetically across the table. While she didn't know everything about Emily's past, she knew there were negative aspects of it greatly weighed on her friend. For all of the good things she had done in the time JJ had known her, there were times JJ found that Emily fixated on these unknown to her distressing past events.

Reaching across the table, JJ took Emily's hand before she said sincerely, "Emily, you are a good person. And you, like everyone else, deserve to have a parent who will respect the wonderful person you are. I know you didn't have that when you were growing up but that was the Ambassador's failing not yours." JJ paused before continuing,

"We all have things we did that we aren't proud of. I know I did and Will did. I also know the same is true for Morgan and Hotch. None of that diminishes our worth as a person as much as it fuels our desire to make a positive impact. Hell I'm certain Dave even has done things he isn't proud of.

I know there are events in your past that haunt you. You have mentioned several times over the years about being rebellious and other things like smoking in your teens."

Emily took a deep breath and replied sadly,"This is different Jayje."

JJ took a shot in the dark and asked, "Is it what happened in Rome and with your friend Matthew?"

Emily eyes shot up in response and she pulled away from JJ and stood up, starting to pace as she said nervously, "What? Who told you?"

JJ could see that she had been right on target with her suspicions however she could also see that Emily was just about to shut down. Seeing that she had to quickly clarify her question, JJ shook her head and replied calmly, "No one told me anything. I'm a profiler Em and I was there during that case. I went with Hotch to visit the Benton's and witnessed their reaction. I saw how you handled the case. I'm not going to claim to know what exactly happened but it was clear to me as your best girl friend that something that deeply affected you occurred when you knew Matthew."

Emily stopped pacing and looked at her pleadingly as she said, "Please don't Jayje."

JJ nodded as she said, "I'm not asking you to tell me what. That isn't why I brought it up but if you ever want to talk I'm here for you." JJ paused as she watch Emily come back to the couch and return to her seat before she said softly, "but Dave does know, doesn't he?"

Emily nodded as she replied, "yeah, he asked me during that case and I told him. He knows what happened. Along with the other stuff I did in my teens that the rest of you know about. That I'm an awful person."

JJ sighed as she could see that while Emily had relaxed a bit about her inquiry about Rome, the self loathing was still just as strong. Changing her approach she asked, "Does Hotch know everything?"

Emily looked at her confused before saying, "of course. I told him when we started to get serious so there wouldn't be any surprises later."

JJ let out the breath she had been holding, relieved that she had been correct about Hotch knowing. It would have negated the point she was about to make if he didn't know as well worry JJ because she knew that Emily told him everything.

She smiled at her friend and said, "so he knows and he still loves you. He proposed to you and married you after he found out. Emily, he let you adopt his son. I don't know what happened but if you were truly an awful person do you think Hotch would have done any of that?"

Emily was quiet for a couple of minutes, considering her words before quietly saying, "I don't know."

Now that Emily was looking at the events the way JJ was hoping she would, JJ continued, "and you said that you told Dave everything. He supported you throughout that case. He sent Morgan to help you save your other friend. He even went up against Strauss when things got hot with the State Department. Did you feel that he was offended by what you told him during the case or anytime afterwards?"

Emily quickly shook her head, remembering how protective Dave had been around her at the time. He had told her the day she opened up to him that he was 'all in' and she never doubted that he had meant it. "No. If anything he was more supportive. But that was as a coworker. He may feel differently about it being about his child."

JJ nodded realizing that she had just gotten to the core of what Emily was worried about. She stopped and looked before making eye contact with Emily and saying, "I don't think so. Can you think of anything that Jack or Natalie would do that would cause you to reject them? Would you if either of them had done whatever it is that you are worried about?"

With a disgusted look on her face, Emily shot back, "No of course not. I'm sure there will be decisions that they both make that I will disagree with, but I will also love them and try to support however I can.

If I found out that either of them was involved in that, I would want to protect them and would probably blame myself for not being there for them."

JJ smiled her, knowing she had made her point before saying, "love and support them? You mean like Dave has been doing for you. Since he knows, maybe Dave is now feeling the same way with the guilt that you needed to go through it.

What it comes down to is you aren't going to know for sure until you talk to him. Just give him the benefit of the doubt until you can. I'm sure it wasn't easy to bring it up with Hotch but you did. Let Dave know what your worries are. What your fears are. I'm sure he has some of his own about all of this."

JJ stopped and squeezed Emily's hand before saying, "Emily, this is something you have always wanted. Trust him as you always have. Trust in him that he isn't going to hurt you. You have the opportunity to have a real relationship with a parent. Don't let the fear of the unknown take any more time from getting to know your dad. I would do anything to have had more time with my dad."

Emily squeezed back remembering when JJ told her about losing her father during her first year of college. She also knew deep down that JJ was right. About everything. As she looking back over at her friend, Emily said, "I will. We have a lot of things to talk through. Thanks Jayje."

JJ smiled and stood up relieved that she was able to get through to her stubborn colleague. Truth be told, she felt for both Dave and Emily and wanted them to have a real chance going forward. But both had been hurt deeply in the past. She didn't want them to lose the chance at a relationship that she felt would benefit both of them. "Anytime. I am really happy for you. Let me go ask Will if he'll take you home." JJ said as she noticed Emily checking her watch and grimacing.

Just as JJ was walking up the stairs, she stopped as a thought came to her. Smirking, she looked at Emily and said, "Em, you do realize who is going to be the most thrilled about the revelation that Dave is your dad?"

After a few seconds a smile crossed Emily's face and JJ continued up the stairs to find Will.

 **####**

Hotch was walking down the stairs after putting the kids to bed when he heard knocking on the front door. Reaching the bottom, he walked over to the door and saw Dave looking back at him through the peephole, looking a little out of sorts.

Hotch opened the door, not really surprised that Dave had stopped by his evening having heard from Emily that they had received the results of the DNA test earlier that day as well as what happened with Donaldson. After Dave stepped into the foyer and Hotch closed the door, Dave said, "Hi Aaron, is she here?

Hotch shook his head before saying, "No. Her and JJ went out for girl's night or at least they when over to Will and JJ's house."

Dave looked down at the ground before looking up at Hotch and saying sadly, "OK. I'm going to go. Just tell her… tell her I'm sorry."

He turned towards the door and was reaching for the door when Hotch said, "Dave why don't you come in?"

Dave shook his head as he said, "I don't want to intrude."

Hotch sighed before stating, "you're not. I talked to our lawyer tonight and I want to run some things by you."

Dave turned back around looking worried as he said, "that sounds ominous."

Hotch nodded and led them into the family room. He walked over to the bar and poured both of them a glass of scotch before coming back over to where Dave had sat down.

After handing Dave one of the glasses Hotch sat across from him and said, "well it certainly isn't good, at least what I found out tonight. The courts granted a search warrant for the information surrounding their handling of the trusts. FBI White Collar went into exercise it today.

It looks like two of the three partners at the law firm that handled the Prentiss and Breckenridge family estates have disappeared. The remaining partner is cooperating however he never worked on those accounts. He claims to have no idea where the other two are now.

As if that isn't bad enough, all the documents under the subpoena were shredded and cross shredded so they can't even reassemble the pieces."

Dave shook his head as he said, "that's not good. What is the plan?"

Hotch took and deep breath before he continued on about what he had learned during the earlier phone call, "well they now have new charges against them but they have seemingly disappeared without a trace after one of them landed in Amsterdam and the other in Mexico City. White Collar isn't sure at this point if they are holed up in those areas or traveling under an assumed identity."

"Are they going to continue looking?" Dave asked.

"Yes but what can be done may depend on where they are found and if they can be extradited back to the US."

"Damn." Dave said shaking his head.

Hotch paused before he went on to the next part, "all of this leads to another part of the puzzle. William Reid."

Dave sat up and asked, "how did your meeting go with the ADA?"

Hotch smiled as he remembered the response of the ADA during their meeting a few days earlier. The team had managed to show a clear document trail from the company William Reid works for without involving Spencer's memory, "well, I turned over the evidence we had uncovered linking his employer to the group led by McRae and Howard. They were thrilled to have a break in that case. As much as they were able to prosecute that case, they knew there was a large part that was unsolved. I received a call today that William Reid is not living in Vegas again."

"Again?" Dave asked confused.

"Yeah, after he left Spencer and his mom, William Reid disappeared for several years. He only came back about 5 years before we investigated him last time. However we weren't looking at that time range which is why we didn't know back then. About 2 months after you, Derek and Spencer talked to him, he disappeared again and has been off the grid since then. And then six weeks ago, the company suddenly referred out all their cases and several members of upper management have now also disappeared." Hotch sighed, annoyed mostly with himself that the gap wasn't picked up when they had previously investigated him. But he kept telling himself they wouldn't have known at that point the significance of it.

"That is a lot of people disappearing. Do they think the firm is involved?" Dave asked.

Hotch nodded as he said, "That is how they are investigating it right now. The connection between McRae and Howard and the firm William Reid worked for going back over 30 years."

Dave sighed and focused on the scotch in his glass as he said, "it would explain the phone call that Spencer overheard as well as the timing of when he left."

Hotch huff and could feel his anger rising as it did anytime he thought about William Reid had just walked about from his young son and mentally ill wife as he said, "yeah without any care about what potential legal mess he was leaving them in over and above abandoning a minor child and Diana in the mental state she was in."

"Does Spencer know all this?" Dave asked.

Hotch shook his head as he said, "Not yet but I do need to tell him. Emily doesn't know about the law firm either. I hate that I need to tell both of them that they may not get justice." He was not looking forward to either of these needed conversations.

Do you think that the law firm partners are also involved with McRae and Howard?" Dave asked though he was almost afraid of what the answer would be.

Hotch shook his head before saying, "No, that wasn't the impression that I got. What the consensus is was that they had been mishandling trust accounts and not just Emily's.

When we showed up for the Ambassador's will reading, they admitted it but thought they could talk their way out of it and we wouldn't know the difference. The lies the Ambassador had told them over the years had given them a false sense of security that she wouldn't know any better. Our marriage in particular threw them a curve ball because they needed to immediately hand over to account without any preparation.

After they realized who we were and then with the added scrutiny after we didn't accept their settlement offer, it appears they shredded the evidence and then left, knowing things wouldn't end well for them as the investigation continued."

"What a mess."

Hotch nodded as he said, "I agree. But we also have good news. We heard a few days ago that the lawsuits concerning Emily's inheritances are almost settled. She just wants the process finished with her stepfather getting as little as possible. Unless something unexpected happens, it should be done before the end of the year."

"That is good news." Dave said smiling at some positive news.

Both of them then sat back, focusing on their scotch before Hotch said, "so you hit Donaldson."

Dave sighed and shook his head as he thought back to earlier in the day, "yeah, he came over as Emily and I talking and I hit him when he insulted her. Luckily where were had video surveillance that the Director and Strauss could view when I met with them. Did Emily say anything about it?" Dave asked before he paused discouraged at how what should have been one of the happiest days of his life had gone. He sighed before he said sadly, "we hardly had time to talk after we got the results and then that. I hope I didn't upset her too much."

Hotch saw how upset Dave was and felt for his long time friend. Hoping to reduce his stress a bit, Hotch said, "Donaldson was who she was upset with when I spoke to her. I know she still want to talk to you Dave. Just keep being patient."

Hotch paused and chuckled before he continued, "and expect an earful about that at work she is an agent and is perfectly capable of fighting her own battles. It's a long rant that I know well. And if I remember correctly, you have given me a similar lecture."

Dave laughed back at him as he said, "I know. I know. Strauss already pointed that out. I screwed up. I'll apologize when I see her."

Hotch nodded as he said, "and that's all you really can do. I for one appreciate you defending her. I probably would have been fired if I had been there."

Dave nodded remembering the meeting in the Director's office and wondering at some points if that was going to be his fate, "yeah, I think that was a possibility for me too until they heard on the video what he said as well as what the news was we just received. When I first walked in, they were under the impression that we were in a relationship and both were none too pleased."

Both men looked at each other and shook their heads before Dave said, "I needed to tell them everything Aaron. They both have known about my search for Sophia for years. And Donaldson had threatened to take not only the two of us but the entire team in front of a review board. He was also going to call into question Emily's promotion. The Director needed cover to squash it. I told them because I couldn't let that happen."

Hotch looked back at him as he took in what Dave had just said relieved that a review board investigation had been averted. Even when the initial complaints were cleared, it would have open the possibility of all actions of the team to be questioned.

Nodding in thanks to Dave that the team had dodged that bullet. As he took in the rest of what Dave had said Hotch asked, "You said they knew about Sophia- how did they take the news?"

Dave chuckled before he said, "they were shocked and I believe thought I was losing it before I showed them the lab report. They are happy for the two of us. Given the circumstances, I ended up with a 30 day suspension…."

Before he could say anything else, they could hear Natalie starting to fuss on the monitor. Hotch dropped his head and Dave said, "…. Uh oh"

Hotch stood up and said, "sorry Dave, let me go get her. I'll be right back." Dave heard Hotch quietly talking to Natalie through the monitor before he heard footsteps on the stairs and well as Natalie's sniffles.

When Hotch walked into the family room, Dave saw Natalie resting her head on his shoulder as he rubbed her back. She stopped crying and lifted her head when she saw Dave, "Aw, what's wrong sweetheart."

Before Hotch could say anything his phone started to buzz. Pulling it out of his pocket, he grimaced.

Seeing the look on his face, Dave said to him, "I can take her Aaron if you need to take that." Hotch nodded as he said, "Thanks Dave, I'll be right back." and passed Natalie to Dave.

As Natalie cuddled into him, Dave replied, "take your time. We'll be OK, won't we Natalie?"

Hotch smiled as he saw Natalie look up at Dave before he walked out of the room as he answered the call.

When he call finished and he walked back into the room 20 minutes later, he found them both asleep.

 **####**

Emily pulled her coat tight around her as she thanked Will for the ride and opened the car door. The wind was making it feel colder. Reaching her front porch, Emily opened the door and waved back at Will who then started to back out of the driveway to head home.

As she entered the foyer and took off her coat, Hotch came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Emily turns and returns his hug before pulling slightly back and looking up at him.

"Did you and JJ have fun?" Hotch asked with a smile as he noticed the tension he had noticed in his wife earlier in the day was greatly diminished. It looked like JJ had come through yet again.

Emily nodded as she said, "yeah, we shared a bottle of wine and talked for a while. Thanks for staying with the kids. It was what I needed tonight."

Hotch looked down at her, noticing her glassy eyes, "good. You seem more relaxed then you did early. Just please drink some water before bed. We still have work in the morning."

Emily nodded and pointed towards the kitchen as she said, "I will. I was planning on making the kitchen my first stop. How are the kids?"

Hotch sighed, hoping she wasn't going to feel guilt when he told her how the evening went, "they were both cranky. Overtired would be my guess."

Emily sighed and shook her head before echoing one of his worries, "hopefully they aren't getting sick."

Hotch nodded before answering, "me too. We should know soon enough though they weren't congested and neither had a fever. They were just cranky"

Still concerned, Emily asked, "Did they go down OK?" Shaking her head, she mumbled, "you could have called."

Hotch reached over and placed a finger under her chin and lifted until she was looking at him. He shook his head and said calmly, "no, like you said you needed that time with JJ. I can handle bedtime. Jack is in bed. Natalie was in bed but woke up about an hour ago."

"Where is she?" Emily said as she looked around having not heard the infant since she walked in the door.

"She's back to sleep." Hotch says as he took Emily by the hand and led her to the family room. As soon as she entered the room, she could see Natalie curled up under a blanket on Dave's chest. Dave had the recliner inclined back, his arms surrounded Natalie as he laid there appearing to be sound asleep. Natalie's current favorite book was resting in his lap.

As she took in the sight in front of her, Emily suddenly felt the weight of fear and worry disappear as it was replaced with the feeling that everything was going to work out. They obviously had a lot to talk about but seeing Dave holding her daughter so carefully as he had done countless times before reassured her that his feelings weren't diminished by the new revelations. That their relationship would only grow from here.

Seeing Emily transfixed on the sight in front of her, Hotch said quietly after putting his arm around her shoulders, "Dave stopped by after bedtime and we talked for while. Natalie went to him went she woke up crying. She fell back to sleep while he was reading her the book. A few minutes later, he was asleep too."

Emily nodded and asked without looking at him, "Can you take her? I need to talk to him."

"Just go easy. He is remorseful about what happened with Donaldson and it sounds like he already got an earful about it." Hotch said as he started to walk into the room.

Emily grabbed his sleeve to stop him. Then they walked out of the room and once they were a few steps away, they stopped and Emily said, "OK. What happened?"

Hotch took a deep breath, knowing what happened was Dave's story to tell though he decide to give her an overview, "Meeting with Strauss and the Director. Suspended for a month." Emily gasped when he said that suddenly feeling guilty since Dave had hit Donaldson defending her. Hotch could see the emotions crossing her face and trying to pull her back said,

"But there is also good news. I got a message earlier, you probably have one as well. The Assistant Director they just hired will take over supervising the areas that Donaldson currently does while Donaldson will switch to cover the areas of responsibility AD Smith was. And if that isn't enough, he will at HQ from now on. The Director explained it in the message as Donaldson will be taking over the area which has had a lot of turnover at the Unit and Section Chief levels to given some stability."

Emily could feel the smile on her face grow as he shared the news before she replied, "That is good news. Wow, if I knew decking him was going to get rid of him, I would have done it years ago."

"Emily." he said chidingly though his poor concealed smile negated the reproach.

Emily rolled her eyes at him as she said, still unable to wipe the smile off her face, "I know. I know. No violence. It's the wine talking. I'm going to go get a glass of water." She leaned up and kissed his cheek before she walked away towards the kitchen.

As he saw her walking away to called out in a whisper, "OK, while your in there, I'm going to take Natalie back up to her room so stay out of sight please."

Emily turned and answered, "I will stay in the kitchen until I heard you going up the stairs. Good luck" before walking into the kitchen.

They both knew that if Natalie woke up when Hotch picked her up and saw Emily, she won't settle until Emily fed her. While Natalie would take the bottle with little fuss if Emily wasn't around, she would refuse it and want her mom if she saw her, particularly at bedtime. While most nights, Emily would take her chances, tonight she wasn't because she had been drinking and didn't want Natalie to get her milk now.

While in the kitchen, Emily slowly drank 2 glasses of water. As she sat at the counter finishing her second glass, he could hear Hotch walking up the stairs.

Deciding that was all the water that she could comfortably handle, she walked over and placed the glass in the dishwasher before walking out of the kitchen heading towards the family room.

When she walked into the room, she could see Dave sitting up in the recliner rubbing his face. Not seeing her walk into the room, he jumped slightly in surprise when she said, "Hey, you OK."

Standing up, Dave smiled at as he said, "yeah. I was reading the little lady a book and she nodded off and next thing I know, Aaron was nudging my shoulder to take her up to bed. I guess I was more tired than I thought."

Emily looked down before looking back up before she said, "I'm sorry I missed you when you came by earlier."

She really did regret not being there when he came by since their talk after the lab tech gave them the DNA results was cut short by Donaldson. However she was also glad to have had the time with JJ to get her thoughts straight before sitting down with Dave.

Dave nodded and said, "Aaron said you and JJ were having girls' night."

"Yeah." Emily replied nervously before pausing before continuing, "thanks for defending me with Donaldson today. I'm sorry you got suspended because of it."

Dave reached out and put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze before he replied, "I'm not. He had it coming."

Dave paused because he had no idea how she was going to react to what he was going to say next, "but I do need to tell you something before you go to work tomorrow. The Director and Strauss know about the DNA results. I'm sorry I didn't talk to you first about how you wanted to handle letting people know."

He stopped and sighed before he said, "I wasn't going to but Donaldson was already making insinuations about us being personally involved and threatening to start a investigation of not only the two of us but of the team as well as call into question your promotion. I couldn't let him jeopardize your career or the reputation of the BAU by dragging us before a review board."

Emily smiled as seeing Dave ramble was unusual. However sobered as she realized it was distress and he was just as nervous and uncertain as she was, she put her hand over his on her shoulder and said, "Dave, stop. It's fine. I understand. The two of them were going to have to know regardless. Yeah I wish we would have had some time to get use to it ourselves first but that's not on you or me, that's on Donaldson."

Dave smiled back at her response, relieved that she wasn't angry before saying, "good. I'm going to head out," as he yawned.

Emily looked at him concerned knowing his house was 20 minutes away before she said, "why don't you stay tonight? It's late and you're tired."

Dave looked down almost ready to say no as he generally would when the offer to stay would be made by a member of the team.

However, since that night when Reid mentioned the name of Emma's mother, he hadn't been sleeping well. And honestly, he didn't want to go home. He wanted to stay close to Emily afraid that he walked too far away, she would disappear again. He also recognize that her offer tonight unlike other times was as his daughter and not as a colleague. And since she was asking, he decided to accept.

He nodded before he said, "if you're sure, that would be great. I'll just go grab my bag from the car."

 **AN: In chapter 26, perspective is given to a member of the team.**

 **An FYI, I'm going to be publishing 2 one shots in the next few days if anyone is interested. They are mostly ready and just need to finish the edits.**


	26. Chapter 26

**AN: As I was uploading this chapter, I notice that its been exactly a year since I posted the first chapter of this story. I would like to thank everyone who had stuck with me and this story as well as everyone who has commented, followed and favorited this story. I appreciate the support as I have worked my way through what was my first story.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **CHAPTER 26**

Emily walked into her house, taking in the unusual silence that surrounded her. With having come home early from work, she still had hours until she needed to pick up the kids at Will and JJ's.

It had been three days since she and Dave had learned through DNA results that he was indeed her biological father. Although they had been almost certain what the results were going to be, it was different to have the piece of paper in front of her confirming it.

The talk with JJ later that evening had helped her in sorting her feeling and clearing her head. That had put her in a better headspace when she decided to go into work late the next morning so she and Dave could finish the talk that Donaldson had rudely interrupted the day before with his accusations.

Over the last week, she was unnerved by all of the whispers and pointing that had been following her. First it had been gossip that her and Dave were having an affair. Gossip that persisted even when she knew several people were shutting down hard.

Then over the last couple of days, there were a growing number of people who now found out the truth. She had been enthusiastically greeted numerous times by contemporaries of Dave telling her how excited they were that he had finally found her. These were agents that she barely knew though all of them seemed to know Dave as well as his search for his missing daughter.

When she had arrived at Strauss' office for a meeting early that morning, the stress of all of it was getting to her. After they finished the business part of their meeting, the older woman had led them over to a sofa in her office and asked how she was handling the news.

After challenging Emily on her default 'I'm fine' response, Emily sighed and shared what had been happening around the office. Strauss, who had been planning to get Emily to take time off before she had even walked into the office that morning, strengthen her stance as she heard what Emily was experiencing in the office.

Taking a few minutes to explain the background, Strauss explained that she along with all of the other agents who had worked with Dave in his early years in the FBI, including the current director, had known about his missing daughter. She went on to share how a former director had ordered him to stop looking and how many of them had continued the search without success.

After that Strauss turned serious and told Emily she wanted her to take some time off to give herself some time to adjust to all the changes in her life over the last couple of months. Steeling herself for the expected argument, Strauss was surprisingly pleased when Emily nodded and said that she thought it would be a good idea as well. After that they worked on logistics of who was going to take over all of the aspects of her position.

From how diligent Emily had been when they were planning her maternity leave, Strauss knew the younger woman wouldn't completely agree unless the logistics had been worked out so Strauss already had a plan in mind.

She recommended they have Agent Greene take over the role as first contact for the unit. He had suffered a setback with his knee injury and was still out of the field.

Strauss then suggested one of her training agents, Alvez, was ready and could travel with Cooper's team while Agent Lewis would be continuing her training with one of the other BAU team for the next week as she had already been granted time off over Christmas.

With all of her work duties covered, Emily went back to her office and finished a couple of outstanding items that couldn't wait or be taken over by someone else.

Before she left the BAU, Emily went over to the bullpen to talk to Hotch. Luckily, he was in his office. He shared his support when she told him about the time off as he had been trying to convince her to take some time since the day Dave had come over and told her she was his daughter. He and his team were off rotation for the holidays this year so he only had one more week before he would be home for two weeks.

Slipping off her shoes, Emily climbed the stairs heading towards their home office. Walking into the room, she sat down on her desk chair and looked at the box sitting in front of her. The box Dave had brought over the morning he gave her the shocking news about her parentage.

So far she hadn't opened it since they had left it in her home office that morning. At first she had held off, not feeling right about it until they had the results confirmed. From what he said that morning, it was evident how much this box and its contents meant to him and she just felt wrong about looking at what was in it until she had confirmation that it was indeed her history too.

Since she had received that piece of paper confirming Dave as her father, she had been more focused on the present. Talking to him as they attempt to redefine their relationship. She felt better after talking to JJ about the insecurities she had about the whole situation. She was surprised as they spoke that Dave had some of his own.

But today, home earlier and alone for the next few hours, Emily decided to delve into the box that Dave had held as a treasured item for all these years.

After taking the lid off she carefully started taking the photos out before arranging them across her desk. She was immediately drawn the pictures of Emma. Her mother. Dave hadn't been kidding when he commented how much Emily resembled her.

There were photos starting from when it appeared she was in her early teens through high school and prom. As far as she could tell, the latest picture was one with Emma and Dave with a buzz cut and in his fatigues. As she looked through them she was laughing as well as crying.

This was the first time she(or anyone from the team as far as she knew) had seen pictures of teenage Dave. She had to laugh at his long hair and leather jacket as they were not items that she would associate with the Dave she knew today. Maybe he had his own rebellious past which allowed him to accept hers so readily.

Gently placing the pictures aside, the next item she took out was a bundle of letters. Untying the bundle, she noticed it was letters Emma wrote to Dave while he was deployed.

At first she was uncomfortable having these highly personal letters in front of her, wondering if Dave had realized they were in the box when he gave it to her. To be safe she exchanged text messages with him about if he was sure he was OK with her reading them.

After he replied affirmatively, she sat down and read through each of the letters. With only having one side of conversation it was difficult in places to follow the conversation. There were people and places mentioned, some repeatedly that were unknown to Emily.

However most of what was in the letters was Emma's description of how her pregnancy was progressing as well as her thoughts of wanting Dave to be healthy and safe.

There was an ongoing conversation about baby names. The name for her. From what she read Emma had wanted her first name to be Seraphina but had agreed to go with Dave's top choice of Sophia. She chuckled as she came to the letter where, as Dave had mentioned, Emma insisted on her having Maud as a middle name though she didn't mention why only that it was a compromise to his choice being her first name.

Emma had also mentioned in several of the letters about the news about the war that she had heard as she expressed worry whether he was near any of the battles she was reading about in the newspaper.

After she refolded the last letter in the stack, Emily sat back and wiped the tears from her eyes before she sighed.

She carefully placed all of the items back in the box, knowing that it all needed to go back to Dave. After placing the lids on the box, Emily sat back down in her chair, processing everything that she just read.

Just as she sat down, the doorbell rang.

 **####**

Dave Rossi nervously paced through his house under the guise of checking the Christmas decorations that he had hired a company to install over the last couple of days.

In years past, he had rarely decorated for Christmas. It had always felt wrong to him to celebrate what he had grown up to recognize as a family holiday when his child was lost to him.

But with the recent discovery that his daughter was alive, well and open to building a relationship with him, he had woken up a couple of days earlier suddenly wanting to fully celebrate Christmas this year.

He had asked his housekeeper to make contact with a company she was familiar with to help them with the decorations and lighting. When the owner arrived, Dave explained to him some things he would like along with the fact that anything they did would need to be safe for young children.

While the crew had worked on the approved decorating upstairs, Dave had been down in his rarely used finished basement setting up the part of the toy train set his parents had given him years ago. After setting up the large base piece, he started to unpack to various train parts and scenery items.

Then earlier that morning after hours of careful reconstruction and a bit of swearing, he had the train up and running as he remembered it when he was a kid.

With that done, he had gone upstairs to check on the holidays decorating that his housekeeper had been overseeing. He had viewed the beautiful displace of house lights the previous evening as well as the fairy lights that had been strung over the outside patio. A winter wonderland display had been set up in the yard that the kids could interact with.

Inside he could see everything was as he requested as well as that care had been taken to make sure that everything was child safe.

Except for the living room which had been gated off. In there a snow village had been set up in the center of the room. In the front corner of the room, a Christmas tree with his crystal tree topper and glass balls had been placed by his large front window.

Walking around the rest of the house, he was pleased with how everything was shaping up. His plan was to have the team over the weekend before Christmas and then have Hotch, Emily and the kids over for dinner Christmas day. He had already discussed it with Hotch and Emily and they decided that would work best along with Dave coming over to their house on Christmas Eve.

After receiving Emily text messages, he was somewhat confused as to why she was home during the day since she wasn't scheduled to take off until the following week.

Along with that was the anxiety that she was looking in the box he had left with her. Reading the letters Emma had written to him. Ideally he would have liked to keep them for himself. He had never let anyone else read them.

However he had included them in the box when he took it to Emily because he didn't have anything else from Emma that he could share with her. And from everything she was experiencing and learning after the Ambassador's death along with how well he knew Emily, he wanted to give her something tangible to help her connect with Emma.

But now that she was reading them, he was nervous with anticipation. When an hour past and he hadn't heard anything else from her, he grabbed his jacket and left, heading towards the Hotchner house.

 **####**

When Emily checked the peephole on the door, she was not completely surprised to see Dave standing outside the door. Opening the door, she invited him in out of the cold. As he took his jacket off and hung it by the door, she said, "Everything OK?"

Dave turned and looked at her and although she had worked to clean up the damage to her makeup from crying he could see the slightly bloodshot eyes as well as could hear it in her voice.

Before he could say anything, Emily asked if he wanted a drink as she was going to get herself a glass of water. Dave responded likewise and at Emily's gesture he followed her to the kitchen as they continued their conversation.

Standing in the kitchen as Emily filled their glasses, Dave said, "after your message earlier about the letters, I just wanted to check on you. See if you had any questions after reading them."

Emily handed him his glass and nodded as she said, "I had just finished placing everything back in your box when the doorbell rang."

After she said that, she led them into the family room. As they were walking, Dave remembered part of his confusion as Emily generally didn't take time off unless there was a reason and asked worriedly, "what are you doing home in the middle of the day? Are the kids sick?"

Emily shook her head as she said, "no they are both doing well and hopefully taking a nap right now. I'm taking some extra time off starting today. The office has just been weird the last few days. Today after my meeting with Strauss, she asked how I was doing and convinced me to take the rest of the week extra. I think she was conspiring with Aaron because he has been trying to get me to take some extra time off and Strauss already had a plan in mind to cover my team."

Dave chuckled before sobering as he asked, "weird how?" as they both sat down.

Emily took a deep breath before answering, "well first there are still those rumors that we were having an affair." Emily paused and rolled her eyes at that before continuing, "though that rumor has diminished over the last couple of days. Then over the last couple of days, I've had several agents who had apparently heard the news and couldn't find you that have come to see me. Along with that is just the curious looks everytime I leave my office. I haven't been getting much done anyway so when Strauss asked today, I just agreed."

Dave looked down as she spoke before he said, "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have been left to deal with the attention all by yourself." He didn't regret hitting Donaldson for the comments he had made that day to Emily. However hearing what she just said, he was regretting that it had taken him out of the office so she had been left to deal with the aftermath by herself.

Emily shook her head before she said, "it's fine. Aaron's been after me too about taking the days. By the time we go back, everyone will have hopefully moved on to something else to gossip about. But having the time today with an empty house, I decided to look at your box."

Dave nodded and asked, "Anything you want to ask me about?"

At first Emily shook her head before stopping and looking up at him with a mischievous smirk as she asked, "so do you still have the leather jacket? And what was the deal with the long hair?"

Dave paused before laughing out loud at her questions. It wasn't at all one of the things he expected her to ask about though knowing Emily, he should have expected the comment.

Shaking his head, he said, "yes I still have the jacket, along with some other items, in my closet. And the hair, it was cool when I was in high school and Emma loved it. And besides young lady, you have no room to talk about hairstyles. I've seen your senior picture."

Dave smirked as Emily gasped at his comment. Emily frowned and sighed. She should have known Garcia had shown that picture the entire team.

Dave noticing that Emily was starting to shut down on him said, "can we just chalk it up to that both of us had some questionable hair and attire in our teens that we would never wear today."

Emily looked over and saw the look of sincerity and nodded as she said, "agreed but I would still like to see the leather jacket at some point."

Dave smiled as he said, "done, just let me know when."

They were quiet for a few minutes before Emily said quietly, "thank you for letting me read your letters. They were really personal and the last contact you had with her."

Dave nodded before he said, "you're welcome. That is all true but they are all I had to offer you. I can tell you a lot about Emma. How she felt about her pregnancy and you. But I also thought it would help to read something that she herself wrote."

"It did. She really loved you." Emily said quietly as she pushed tears away from her eyes.

Dave stood up and walked over and sat down right next to Emily. These deep emotions are what he thought would happen when she read the letters. He was relieved that he had listened to his instincts and came over as he didn't want Emily having to process this part by herself.

He put his arm around shoulder as she leaned into him before he said, "and I loved her very much as well. Still do to be honest with you."

They sat together quietly for a few minutes until Emily said in slightly louder than a whisper, "I wish I had gotten the chance to know her."

Dave sighed as he nodded when he said, "Me too, honey. Me too. She would be so proud of you. Just like I am."


	27. Chapter 27

**CHAPTER 27**

Will, JJ and their kids stood in front of Dave's house waiting for someone to answer the doorbell that Henry had just rang. They quickly heard talking on the other side of the door right before it opened and they were instantly enveloped in a hug as they stepped into the house.

"You're here. How was the beach? You're all tan." Garcia asked excitedly as she took Caitlin out of Will's arms.

Before they could answer, Jack ran up to them in his coat yelling, "Henry, you're here. Come play with me outside." Henry looked up at parents excited before Will said, "Go ahead." and with that both boys ran through the house towards the back door as multiple adults yelled at them to slow down.

Looking back to Garcia, JJ asked, "Is there an adult back there with them?"

"Yeah, Hotch was back there. I told him I'd keep an eye on Rainbow." Garcia said as they walk further into the house. As they turned the corner, they saw Natalie sitting at the gate that was blocking off the living room with Reid standing close by. When she saw them walking towards her, Natalie turned and crawled to them.

When she reached them, Natalie pulled on JJ's boot and fussed until she picked her up. Once JJ was holding her, Natalie started pointing towards the living room and babbling.

As Will and Garcia chuckled at Natalie's attempt, JJ shook her head before she said, "Not right now sweetheart. Only your grandpa is allowed to take you in there." Dave had made that request when the team was over for the team Christmas party that he be present if any of the kids were in that room since it was the only room now not childproofed.

Natalie's babbles quickly turned into fussing when she realized JJ wasn't going to take her into the living room either. As Natalie became more upset, JJ followed Will and Garcia with Caitlin towards the family room when Natalie tried to throw herself out of JJ's arms. JJ pulled her in snugly and said, "Oh no you don't. Your mommy and daddy would be very upset with me if I dropped you. Let's go see if Uncle Spencer has your book," after seeing Spencer standing in the family room with a book in his hands.

After Spencer settled in a chair with Natalie, Caitlin and a pile of books, Will excused himself to go out in the backyard with Hotch and the boys. JJ and Garcia took a seat in the couch before JJ asked, "where is everyone?"

"Well, Alex is still in Boston and flying back late. Dave said she sent her love and will see us in the office on Monday morning."

"She said that she was going to see her husband. I didn't realize she was flying back so late." JJ said before looking around and asking, "how about Derek?"

JJ didn't miss the Spencer's pause in reading or sadness that past over Garcia's face in response to the question. Looking intently back and forth at them, Garcia answered as Spencer restarted reading, "he's not coming."

"What? Why not? Did he get stuck in Chicago?" JJ asked concerned.

Garcia looked down as she shook her head before saying, "No. He just decided not to come. He is still having issues with the whole Emily is Rossi's daughter discovery."

JJ huffed as a look of anger crossed her face remembering it also being the reason he hadn't attended the team Christmas party before she said, "Still?! He needs to find a way to get past this. We go back to work in two days. There is no way that Strauss is going to let us go back into the field if we can't work together as a team."

Garcia nodded rapidly before she got up and started pacing as she said, "I know. I know. I've tried to talk to him. I begged him to come tonight. I'm sorry." She loved her best friend but at times like this she just wanted to shake him.

"No Pen, this isn't on you. He needs to grow up." JJ said as she shook her head before pausing as she looked around the room before continuing, "how did Em and Dave take the news he wasn't coming."

Before Garcia could answer, JJ turned when she heard Spencer say, "not well" as he shook his head before looking back down at the book that Natalie was banging on, upset that his attention to her book had stopped.

JJ turned back to Penelope and saw how upset her friend was knowing that she and Derek had a special friendship. Garcia wring her hands as she said, "Em was really sad and disappointed though she tried not to show it. Dave just got that angry look on his face but didn't say anything."

Realizing she hadn't seen her best friend since she arrived, JJ asked, "where's Emily now?"

Garcia chuckled before saying, "in the kitchen helping Dave cook dinner."

JJ looked at her in shock before looking over at Spencer who nodded his head as well before she said, "Dave never lets anyone help him in the kitchen. He's too territorial."

Garcia smiled after she took a deep breath as she said, "I guess it's different now that they know she's his daughter. He offered when he saw how upset Em was. Though that's not the funniest part."

JJ looked at her confused before asking, "what happened?"

Garcia laughed as she said, "after he asked Em looked shocked because like you said Dave doesn't like help in the kitchen. After a few seconds, she turned to him and asked why they were starting so early that it would only take 20-30 minutes to put a box of pasta in boiling water, pop open a jar of sauce and heat up some frozen meatballs."

JJ put her hand over her mouth as she laughed before saying, "she didn't." It was no secret from anyone on the team that Dave enjoyed cooking and took it very seriously, particularly Italian cooking and made everything from scratch.

Spencer laughed along with them as he said, "she did. I don't think I've ever seen Dave speechless before."

JJ shook her head, "she doesn't cook like that anyway. As long as I've known her, Emily has made her own sauce and freezes the extra. I've never seen her use sauce out of a jar. She even has her own recipe for meatballs."

Garcia nodded before saying, "I know, that is part of what was so funny about it. When she said that, you should have seen the confused look on Hotch's face. After a minute or so, he just shook his head at her but didn't say anything."

They sat there listening to Spencer continuing to read to Caitlin and Natalie for a few minutes, before JJ stood up and asked, "do you think I should stick my head in the kitchen and check on them?"

Garcia laughed as she shook her head, "I'd let them be Jayje. They can both hold their own with the other. You missed it when they were arguing earlier."

"What were they arguing about?"

Garcia shrugged as she said, "I don't know."

JJ looked at her confused, "if they were arguing, how could you not hear them?"

Garcia laughed as she said, "oh we could hear them." as Spencer interjected, "they were arguing in Italian."

 **####**

As everyone began to eat, Jack took a small bite of the meatball before putting down his fork. He said as he crossed his arms, "these aren't Mommy's meatballs." Before anyone could say anything, Henry put his fork down, having not touched his meatballs, mimicking Jack by crossing his arms in front of him as he said, "these aren't Aunt Emmy's meatballs."

Horrified at their sons' behavior, the four parents looked at each other. As she was looking across the table, Emily noticed Dave grumbling however along with that was an underlying sadness. Not wanting this to be the note they end on as they head back to work, Emily realizing she needs to smooth things over.

Turning to Jack, she turns him so he is facing her and lifts his chin until he is looking at her before she says, "Jack, you are right. These aren't my meatballs. You're grandpa made them so all of us could try them. I tried one in the kitchen and think you will like it. I want you to at least try it."

The day that Dave came over when Emily was looking through the box, he stayed for dinner. After dinner, they explained to Jack about them finding out that Dave was Emily's daddy which made him Jack's grandpa. Jack while somewhat confused, was excited by the revelation and didn't ask many questions which all three adults gave a sigh of relief about since they didn't know how to fully explain the complicated situation in 4 year old terms.

Natalie looked totally unimpressed with the news though with her being an infant, they hadn't been expecting much of a reaction from her. Later that night, Hotch mentioned to Emily that maybe somehow Natalie had known all along and was just too young to tell them as a way of explaining why Dave had always been her favorite amongst the team.

Jack pouted as he said, "but I like yours."

Hotch sighed before he said, "Jack, it OK to like more than one. But you won't know until you try it. We're trying them too."

Just as Jack looked over at his dad, he saw Natalie shoving a handful of small pieces of meatball into her mouth. Jack huffed before he said, "Nat'lee will eat anything. She likes to chew on Daddy's shoes and eats broccoli. Yuck."

"Jack" Hotch said, no one missing the warning tone in his voice.

"OK. I'll try them." Jack huffed picked his fork up and pick up a piece of meatball off his plate before putting it in his mouth, "These are yummy. Henry, try grandpa's meatballs."

 **####**

Later that evening after they had put the kids to bed in the newly decorated kids' rooms, the adults took their drinks and gathered in the family room.

As she waited for the others to join her, JJ thought about how fully Dave had embraced the role of grandpa.

After he found out Dave was his grandpa, Jack was very excited to tell Henry. This development ended up causing a lot of friction with the boys because they had both always known him as Uncle Dave and then all the sudden he was only Jack's grandpa. The situation was new and confusing for everyone but no one took the news harder than 3 year old Henry.

The boys were as close as brothers and had been sharing a nanny since they were 7 and 18 months respectively. Their parents were also very close so they spent a lot of time together even outside of childcare.

Henry cried for days about how did Uncle Dave get to be Jack's grandpa but not his? Why didn't he have a grandpa? JJ and Will parents were all deceased so there weren't even any grandparents out there.

Being out of the office, still on suspension it took Dave a few days to overhear what was going on with the kids. After a conversation with Emily, Dave had approached Will and JJ offering to fill the grandpa role for Henry and Caitlin. He explained that he had known each of them since they were babies as well and with how close all of them were, he wanted to be that person for them. He assured them that he had spoken to Emily and she was completely on board. And from that day on both boys had been calling him grandpa.

And then there was earlier tonight, after dinner, when he found Natalie once again sitting at the gate outside the living room, he had picked her up and as he talked to her in Italian, he walked into the room and went over to the snow village that he learned the first time he took her into the room fascinated her. JJ had walked in a few minutes later with Caitlin who mostly ignored the snow village but continuously keep crawling towards the brightly decorated tree. When Jack and Henry had come to the entrance of the room excitedly asking to go downstairs to play with the trains, Dave had agreed and they were soon joined by several of the adults.

When the trains go to be too much for Natalie and Caitlin, Emily and JJ took them upstairs to start getting them ready for bed. As they were settled the infants JJ smiled at how calm her best friend had been tonight.

Before dinner was served, she had stuck her head into the kitchen when there was another flurry of loud conversation in Italian coming from there. At her concern, they both laughed and said that dinner was almost ready. Given how adamant Dave had always been about not wanting help in the kitchen, she noticed that they were both relaxed and were working together.

As she walked back to the family room she had laughed to herself at the sight of them both covered in more flour than would be considered expected for what they were making.

As dinner progressed, JJ could both Emily and Dave were much more at ease with each other than before they had both taken leave. From their conversation when the team gathered to celebrate Christmas, Emily had told JJ that she had taken her advice and was really going to open herself up. She had shared with JJ that her, Hotch and the kids were planning on spending most of the holidays with Dave.

Hotch began by letting the team know that when they returned to the office, Strauss was going to be starting an evaluation of the team including travelling with them on an upcoming case. As he said it, the whole team was quiet, contemplating where this development would lead.

Although no one said it, it was evident with Derek's absence that evening that not all was well within the team and if they could not quickly get incorporate the changes in the team dynamics, the future of the team was uncertain.

Not letting the team go too far down an alarming mental path, Hotch only gave them a short time before he continued that the new Assistant Director would be stopping by the bullpen early in the week to make introductions.

With the BAU business out of the way, conversation turned to other topics. Before long, Emily mentioned that she would be going to court in a week and a half to sort out the issue with her birth certificate.

"So what exactly are they going to do?" Will asked confused.

"Hopefully make my original birth certificate official. Once that is done, I'm requesting a legal name change." Emily replied as she goes through in her head what her lawyer had mentioned in their last phone call.

"Oh, name change. What are you changing your name to Gumdrop?" Garcia asked anxiously.

"Well, the name on my original birth certificate is Sophia Alessandra Maud Rossi. But I think it will be really confusing if I start going by that now." Emily replied

"So what are going to have your official name be then?" Spencer asked.

Emily looked around at the group before saying, "I am requesting it be Emily Sophia Maud Rossi. I have mixed feelings about it but I know it's what I need to do."

"Why mixed feelings?" JJ asked, looking at Emily concerned.

Emily sighed and answered quietly, "well, the name on my original birth certificate is something that Emma gave me. And Emily was given to me by people who bought me. It's seems wrong to keep Emily but it is all I've ever known."

"Emily." Dave said as he reached over and patted her shoulder. They had had several conversations on this topic over the last couple of weeks. He recognized that she was struggling.

Emily huffed and through her hands up having heard Dave rebuttal to her internal conflict many times, "I know. I know. We talked about this. I know you think she would accept the name change due to the circumstances. I just need time to wrap my head around it."

Dave nodded as he said calmly, "take all the time you need. But know that she would be OK with it." He knew Emily needed to work through this herself and in her own way. But that wasn't going to stop him from reassuring her everytime the topic came up. He didn't want her to feel guilty for wanting to hold on to a huge part of her identity when over the last few weeks so many other parts had been upended.

"What do you think about it, Dave?" JJ asked. She wanted to give him the opportunity to repeat his support as she saw Emily's uncertainty.

Dave nodded to JJ and then turned to Emily as he said, "as long as I've known her she's been Emily. That's how I see her. Sophia is the tiny baby in my picture. Yes they are the same person but I recognize the difference. I want _Emily_ to do what she is most comfortable with and I'll support her." He emphasized her name as a way to show her that he still comfortable calling her that.

Emily looked down and nodded before quietly saying, "thanks. I just don't want to let either of you down."

"Not possible." Dave said as he gave her a hug.

The room was quiet until Spencer turned toward her and said, "Emily, even if you aren't going by the names that Emma gave you, you have definitely lived up to the names."

Emily looked at him confused before looking around the room as equally confused faces before saying, "I don't understand."

"Name meanings." Spencer said surprised. Once he said that several people nodded now understanding where he was going with the statement.

Dave nodded before he said, "Emma did have a book. She mentioned something about the name book in one of her letters." Emily nodded as she remembered the letter where Emma had mentioned the book.

"Didn't you look at one when you were pregnant with Natalie?" Spencer questioned.

Emily looked at Hotch who shrugged before she she replied, "Ah, a little but we were mostly looking for a name that didn't remind us of a serial killer." A few chuckles followed the statement before Emily continued, "What does my name mean? Why did you say I've lived up to it?" She was suddenly curious about what Emma had been thinking when she chose her names, anxious to know more about the mother she never knew.

Spencer took a deep breath before he said rapidly, "Sophia and Alessandra are both Greek in origin while Maud's is Old Germanic. Sophia means wisdom. Alessandra is the Italian form of Alexandra which means defender of mankind. Maud was a medieval variant of Matilda and then gained popularity again in the 19th century. It means strength or strong in battle. I think you have definitely lived up to the name she gave you."

The room was quiet for a couple of minutes before Emily looked over at Spencer and said, "wait, Emma wanted my first name to be Seraphina. What does that mean?"

Spencer looked up, deep in thought before he nodded his head and replied, "Seraphina comes from the Hebrew word seraphim described in the Book of Isaiah as a group of strong six winged angels. It means fiery."

"Wow. It's like she knew who you were going to be." Garcia said.

JJ nodded before saying, "yeah Em and no matter what your name is you already carry those qualities."

The room was quiet before Spencer asked, "what last name are you going to be using? Rossi or Hotchner? I'm assuming that Prentiss will be gone."

Emily sighed before replying, "yes, it will. I started the process of changing it to Hotchner with the Bureau a couple of weeks after the Ambassador died. Strauss put in the request and I was waiting for that to be finalized. Unfortunately everything is on hold until I go to court and have my birth certificate sorted out."

"How come?" Will questioned.

Emily looked around at the group as she answered, "the birth certificate I've been using my whole life was obtained illegally. It was one thing to use it when I didn't know. Now I do so I can't use it to do anything legally until I have my real one sorted out in court.

Actually I spoke to Strauss earlier this week and when we go back to work on Monday, I'm severely limited on what I'm allowed to do. Legal is all tied up in knots and doesn't want me doing anything that requires a signature or a report until after I go to court."

The others looked around at each other before JJ asked, "what does that leave?" They had all done enough paperwork over the years to know that everything they completed needed a signature.

Emily need as she sadly replied, "not much. They have offered me paid leave given the circumstances. They just don't want anyone being able to challenge a case against them and get off on a technicality. I get it but it's frustrating." Everyone slowly nodded at the rationale of what she said. None of them wanted one of the type of criminals the BAU pursued to get off on a technicality.

"Do you have plans of what to do?" JJ asked.

Emily nodded having been thinking of her plans since her conversation with Strauss, "yeah, put Christmas decorations away, do a few things with the kids and look at some cold cases. I've just had three weeks off so a lot of my projects are done. It hopefully won't be too long." She really hoped it didn't take long and that whatever they accomplished in court would clear her to return to her job.

"Em, can ask you a question about your birth certificate?" Spencer asked

Emily nodded before she replied, "sure, I'll answer if I can."

"The date of birth is different on the two birth certificates. Do you know which one you are going to use to celebrate?" Spencer asked cautiously.

Emily looked down and sighed. She knew exactly why her younger colleague was asking the question. Because they're birthdays were in the same week, ever since she had joined the BAU, they had celebrated their birthdays together. Which day she was going to pick wasn't what he was really asking about. He wanted to know if they were still going to have that special connection.

Emily looked up at him and said, "Spencer, October is a long way off and I honestly haven't thought too much about it. However, I am inclined to fully recognize the 23rd as my birthday. The 12th doesn't have any significance and it never did. It was only ever a means to an end for them to finalized the adoption illegally.

Now that said, I don't really think that is what you are concerned about. I think you want to know about us celebrating together." Emily paused as Spencer nodded before continuing, "I want us to continue our tradition. Yeah they may not be in the same week but we'll come up with something to make it work. I like celebrating my birthday with you too." Emily stood up and walked over to Spencer and gave him a hug when he stood up.

Garcia started bouncing in her seat before she said excitedly, "Emily can I just tell you that you have such a cool birthday."

Emily and Spencer pulled out of their hug but stayed standing next to each other as Emily chuckled before she said, "thanks Garcia, I glad you like it."

Garcia looked back at Emily taking in her lack of enthusiasm before turning to Spencer in shock and saying, "didn't you tell her? How could you not tell her?"

Emily looked at her confused before she said, "tell me what?"

Garcia seemingly ignored Emily's question as she looked at Spencer's confused expression before shaking her head and saying, "Reid, think about Chemistry." before she looked at him expectantly.

After a few seconds, a look of recognition crossed over his face before he said animatedly, "Garcia's right, you have an awesome birthday. I'm so glad we are celebrating our birthdays together."

Dave who was just as confused as everyone else in the room except Garcia and Reid said, "would the two of you like to share with the rest of the class."

Spencer nodded as he said, "I'm sorry of course. October 23rd is also known in science circles as Mole Day."

Dave look at him skeptically as he said, "and this is something to be excited about." though he was confused when he looked at Emily and saw that she was happy about this. As far as he knew moles were small animals that his dog chased out of his plant beds.

Spencer looked around the room at several confused faces and decided to elaborate, "A mole is a unit of measurement used in chemistry about the amount of a certain substance that contains the constant amount of particles. The constant is called called Avogadro's constant and when being used to calculate the constant is 6.02 times 10^23. That is why it's so exciting. Not only is Emily's birthday on October 23rd but she was born at 6:02AM."

Emily sat back down on the couch before saying, "that is cool."

 **AN: The next chapter won't be posted until at least the middle of January. I'm going to be travelling for the holidays.** **At that point, I'll be winding down this story as there are only a few chapters left.**


	28. Chapter 28

**AN: Apologies for taking so long to publish this chapter. I hope you enjoy it. I also wanted to let you know that this story will be coming to an end. It will have 2 more chapters and an epilogue. That said I wanted to check if there is any interest in a sequel. I have thoughts on some broad strokes for one.**

 **CHAPTER 28**

Emily groaned in frustration as she sat at the desk in her home office while the kids napped. She had been home over a week now awaiting her court date. She had already completed most of the items on her 'to do' list as well as several things that weren't on her list.

It wasn't that she was at home. She loved spending time with her kids. It had only been a few months since she had gone back to work after her maternity leave but even in that short time, she could see both of them changing. She was never going to regret spending time with them while she had the break from work. It was that she was being forced to take the time when she hadn't done anything wrong.

She had gone into the BAU with Aaron Monday morning and was immediately pulled into a meeting with Strauss on what of her aspects of her job she was currently cleared by legal to do until her court hearing. She was disheartened when Strauss passed her the recommendations that basically stated that she was not cleared to perform any official FBI business not limited as they had discussed on the phone.

Strauss apologized for the confusion saying the when the FBI's chief legal counsel had been briefed, he had made this recommendation to the director who had concurred.

She had only briefly gone to her office as with her time off in December most of her job responsibilities were already being covered by other agents before going over to the bullpen to update Aaron. She left the bullpen that day even more dejected when Derek didn't even greet her as the rest of the team did.

As she was walking out to her car, Dave drove up to her and offered to take her to breakfast. Emily was fairly sure someone had called him given when he had arrived but was nevertheless glad to see him. She had agreed to breakfast and his offer to take her home afterwards so that she could leave the car for Aaron. Dave had tried to keep things upbeat sensing her mood.

She was enjoying getting to know Dave better. He still had a week left on his suspension and with her out of the office, they had been making time to grow their relationship.

Again, it was time away from work that she would never regret taking. No what was frustrating her was that right now she was legally unable to work until she went to court and got everything sorted out. The FBI had her on paid leave. And even if she wanted to, she couldn't go anywhere else because all her documentation was screwed up.

She also couldn't do a name change on her driver's license or social security card or passport. She didn't know where all this put the status of her marriage or Jack's adoption. The name of the mother on her daughter's birth certificate was of someone who legally didn't exist.

And as a proactive person having all this uncertainty around her and not being able to do anything about it was driving her nuts. And she didn't even have work right now to distract her.

Opening her desk drawer to pull out a notepad to make a list of everything she needed to update, she came across her copy of the file of her information from the documents that found the prosecutor's office files. Her attention diverted, she started paging through the documents, her anger increasing as she did.

As she came to her intake paperwork, she focused on the name Mildred Taylor wondering what had been going through her mind to sell her own grandchild. Why had she done it? Why had she gone to that length to prevent Dave from raising her?

Paging to the searches Garcia had done, Emily came up to Mildred Taylor's demographic information as well as the notation that she had died. She banged her hands on the desk as she realized that she would never have answers to those questions. Even if she had, she didn't think there would be a reason that would be acceptable for what was done to her.

Looking back down at the searches, Emily noticed that she had had an uncle, Nathan but he had also passed away. Looking past that, she saw that the man that Mildred had married shortly after she was given up for adoption had been a judge and when Garcia had done the search he was in hospice care.

Emily got up from the desk and started pacing. A judge!? He was a judge and had no problem with his fiancee selling her grandchild. Or was it his idea and with Emma's death had he wanted Emily out of the picture? And if he wasn't involved, why didn't he stop it? Nothing about what happened to her was legal.

As she was pacing a thought crossed her mind- she wanted to see this man. She wanted to ask him why. He was there and she deserved to know why. But was he still alive now? It had been weeks since Garcia did these searches and at that point he was in hospice. She needed to call Garcia and see if should could redo the search.

As she dialed Garcia's number, she stopped and hung up the phone. She knew once she called Penelope that there was a nonzero chance that she would be down to Aaron's office to talk to him about the updated search. Before she did anything else, Emily needed to think this through.

 **####**

Hotch sighed as he walked through the bullpen to his office. Emily and Dave had left to take the early morning flight to New York in hopes that they would be able to talk with Boyd Keeler.

He had been surprised when he had arrived home a couple of nights earlier when Emily had shared with him that she wanted to make this trip. Telling him that she needed to talk to this man as he may be the only one who could answer her questions.

When Dave arrived a short time later, it hadn't taken long for him to catch on to what Emily was planning. And he hadn't reacted well after his interactions with this man when he arrived home from the Marines.

Hotch had stepped out to let them talk knowing from experience at this point that these two stubborn individuals would not hear a word he said anyway.

After getting both kids to bed, he slowly walked down the stairs, not sure what the sudden quiet indicated for the discussion. He had been momentarily taken aback when he walked into the room he see Emily crying and curled into Dave's side while he had his arm around her shoulders. Dave's glassy eyes were just another indication that it had been a deep and emotional conversation between the two.

On seeing Hotch at the entrance to the room, Dave had asked him to come in and sit down. Once Hotch was settled Dave explained after talking it through, they both were going to go to see Boyd Keeler. Seeing the looks on both of their faces, Hotch sighed before nodding as he realized he wasn't going to be able to talk them out of this trip.

The next couple of hours was spent planning though Emily had already done some preliminary planning that afternoon. After assurances were gained from Will that he could keep the kids until Emily returned if Hotch and JJ were called out on a case, they booked plane tickets as well as a rental car.

As he now sat at his desk, Hotch couldn't help but focus on how their trip was going. Ideally he would have liked to have gone with them but he couldn't leave the team right now. Strauss had started her assessment of the team and the new Assistant Director had been popping in and out the whole week.

Usually none of this would be a concern but right now the team was not functioning well. Dave was still suspended and was out of the office. Reid and JJ were pissed at Morgan and were having no problem expressing it. Garcia was upset with him as well but their unique friendship lessen the public expression on it. Alex was trying to play peacemaker which she had quickly discovered was a constant job.

And then there was Hotch. A large part of him wanted to tear into Morgan but as Unit Chief he couldn't do that in the office. He had needed to remind himself of that not only on Sunday evening before they returned to work but also on the drive in each morning.

A reminder he had nearly forgotten when he saw how upset Emily was when he didn't talk to her Monday morning in the bullpen on top of what she said was the outcome of her meeting with Strauss. He did find himself calming down later when he overheard Derek asking Alex why wasn't Emily in her office a couple of hours later. That relief was short-lived however because even after finding out what happened, Derek still hadn't contacted Emily.

Looking at his watch, Hotch noticed that he should be received a message from Emily soon that they had reached the medical center were Boyd Keeler was staying. As he waited, he gave silent prayers hoping Emily and Dave would be able to keep their promises to him about not getting themselves arrested knowing how angry each of them was with this man.

He was pulled out of his thoughts with the buzz of his phone alerting him of a text message from Emily telling him they arrived.

 **####**

Dave and Emily were waiting in the lobby of the medical center. When they had arrived, they had let the receptionist know who they were there to see. A call to his nurse had confirmed that he was up for visitors so they had signed in and received their visitor badges just waiting for a call that they could walk down to his room.

When that call came just a few minutes later, they were both nervously pacing in the reception area.

When they walked into Boyd Keeler's room, Dave was stunned at the drastic change in the appearance of the man in front of him. He seemed much smaller and frail while his skin had a sallow appearance. As he walked further into the room, Dave could feel his anger begin to evaporate.

Mr. Keeler looked up at them as they walked into the room through glasses that were on the end is his nose. He closely observed them as they moved closer. They were only a few steps into the room when a look of recognition crossed his face and he said, "David" with surprise evident in his voice. Looking back and forth between the two of them confused before he continued, "and how is Emma with you? Mildred said she died years ago."

Dave nodded before replying, "Mr Keeler. You are correct. David Rossi. This isn't Emma. This is our daughter." He gestured towards Emily.

Mr Keeler anxiously looked back and forth between them before saying surprised, "Sophia? You found Sophia? She looks just like Emma."

Dave nodded before replying, "Yes, she does. We found each other a few weeks ago. This is Emily …"

"...Prentiss. Yes, I know." Keeler interrupted.

At that piece of information, Dave could feel his anger rising again. He had known this whole time. He shook his head before angrily responding, "How do you know that? Were you involved in you wife selling my child? Is that why you got the restraining order against me when I came looking for her?"

Keeler nodded before quietly saying, "David I will answer your questions. I owe you that much."

Emily reached over and put her hand on Dave's shoulder before saying, "thank you. Before you answer any questions you need to know we are both FBI agents however we are not here in our capacity as agents. Are you still willing to talk to us?"

Keeler looked at her and nodded before he said,"yes, my dear."

Emily took a deep breath and asked the questions that had most been troubling her, "why did she give me away? As a judge, you had to know what she was doing was illegal - why didn't you stop her?"

Keeler sat back in his chair and closed his eyes briefly. When he reopened them, he looked right at them as he said, "let me start at the beginning. Mildred had been trying to talk Emma into giving the baby up for adoption for most of her pregnancy…"

"...but why?" Dave interrupted. He hadn't had any major problems with Emma's family though he had known Mildred was unsure of how close he and Emma were.

Keeler nodded before saying, "Mildred became pregnant with Emma at around the same age as Emma became pregnant with you." as he gestured towards Emily before continuing, "by the time she was 20, she was married with a child. By her 22nd birthday, she was a widow with two young children after her first husband was killed in a military training accident. In those days it was very hard to be a single mother. She didn't have family and had to work two jobs while also raising Emma and Nathan. She didn't want Emma to follow the same path."

Dave's stomach dropped as he spoke. He had known that Mildred was a single mother but never considered what that had meant for her. Looking back, he could see how the two experiences were similar. Even so, it didn't excuse what happened. Looking over at Keeler, he asked, "So you approve of what she did?"

Keeler shook his head as he said, "No, I didn't say that. I was out of state that fall. Later what I was told was Emma died and the baby had been given up for adoption. I didn't know that it wasn't Emma that gave you up until later." He paused as he looked at Emily before continuing, "Mildred was overcome with grief when Emma died so I hadn't asked too many questions. At least not at that point."

Dave sighed and ran his hands over his face. He remembered how close Emma had been with her mother. He looked up at Keeler before asking, "when did you discover what really happened?"

Keeler looked at Dave and held his glance before shaking his head then said, "when you came home, David. After you came that first day, Mildred contacted the adoption attorney. Within a couple of hours, a couple of lawyers showed up at our house. Told both of us not to talk to you. They threatened both of us. Mildred with arrest. I did not sign that restraining order against you, David. Judge McRae did." He paused before continuing, "they threatened to hurt you David. They didn't say anything when they were there but they were scared. You represented a great threat to their operation."

Emily who had been quietly listening to their interaction then asked, "but you were a judge, how could you not say anything once you knew?"

Keeler sighed before responding to her, "after they left, Mildred and I discussed how she put you up for adoption and we looked through all the paperwork. The paperwork they had her fill out was in complicated legalese. They had explained the money as typical for adoptions. She had gotten the name of this lawyer from her long time trusted doctor and didn't even consider that they would be misleading her." He paused remembered how he had approached that doctor afterwards and called him out on the referral as well as insisting that Mildred and Nathan never saw him again.

Then he continued, "she had been consumed with grief when Emma died and they took advantage of that as well as her limited education. She wasn't a lawyer, she barely finished high school. I wish she would have waited for me to come home and look at the papers. I never would have agreed for her to sign to those terms."

He paused again before looking over at Emily, knowing what he said next was going to be especially difficult for her, "we were going to report what happened until Sebastian Prentiss showed up on our doorstep two days later with his lawyers. He made it very clear that the adoption was final and neither we nor you David would get the baby back. That she belonged to him now. That she was out of the country and there was no way that he would allow us to get her back. He continued if we insisted on pursuing it, that he would ruin us. Sue us for damages to his reputation. Make sure I lost my new position as a judge and was disbarred.

We couldn't prove that the baby was Mildred's granddaughter or your daughter. DNA testing didn't exist at that point. And we would be admitting to wrongdoing with no chance that we would get you back. It was clear during that meeting that he had the resources to follow through with what he threatened. So we changed our minds and didn't say anything, even to you David when you came back the next day." Keeler broke eye contact and looked down as he stopped, not sure what to say next.

The room was quiet for several minutes before Emily asked, "would you be able to identify the lawyers that were with him?" Dave looked over at her confused before sharing a look with her as he realized why she was asking.

Keeler nodded and said softly, "of course, I will never forget that day."

Dave and Emily exchanged a look. His identification would go a long way into convicting the lawyers at the Prentiss family firm once they had been caught. However, they couldn't be the ones to take the statement and witness the identifications. Due to the circumstances and that this would likely be Keeler's only statement, they needed to make sure it was done in the the most legal way possible to increase the chance that a judge in the future case would allow it in the trial. Dave asked, "would you be willing to talk to some of our colleagues and make a statement on the record?"

Keeler looked at them confused before he asked, "can't you take my official statement? You said you were both FBI agents."

Emily shook her head and gave the vague explanation, "we can't. We are both on leave right now. But we can have someone here in the next couple of hours if you are up to it." She looked at her watch.

Keeler nodded and yawned before saying, "of course. I need to rest now but I will give a statement to your colleagues."

"Thank you. We leave you to rest while we go and make arrangements." Emily said before they walked out of the room. After Dave closed the door, she pulled out her phone to call Aaron hoping he could help them contact the people they needed to get this statement.

 **####**

The two FBI agents and representative from the US Attorney's office had just walked out of Mr Keeler's room along with all the equipment they used to recording his official statement. With the progression of his illness, this was likely the only statement they would have about what he and his wife had experienced so they got not only a written statement but made a video recording of the interview.

While McRae and Howard could have more charges against them though that was unlikely since they were already in prison, this testimony was going to be used for the cases against the Prentiss family attorneys who Mr Keeler had positively identified out of a lineup posed to him by the other FBI agents.

Dave and Emily had just finished speaking to the lawyer from the US Attorney's office when they were approached by the man they were earlier introduced to as Boyd Keeler's attorney.

"Agent Rossi, Agent Hotchner, Judge Keeler wanted me to pass on his apologies. Though we both know that nothing he says at this point will change all of the time you have lost with each other."

"Thank you Mr Harris." Dave responded as they were picking up their coats and bags.

Mr Harris continued, "before you leave, when I just spoke to him, Mr Keeler asked me to check with you if you were interested in items that were Emma's that they saved when she died. Mr Keeler said his stepson had packed up all of her things and stored at least some of it and they didn't know until he died. Mr Keeler still has the boxes at his house though he doesn't know what is in them. If you would like it, we can arrange to have them shipped to you."

Dave and Emily looked at each other. When he saw the first smile on Emily's face in hours, Dave answered, "yes. We would like it, whatever is in the boxes."

Dave wrote his address on the back of one of his cards so Mr Harris knew where to ship the boxes. Without knowing how many they were talking about, they decided that the boxes would go to Dave's house as he had the room and a housekeeper who could accept the delivery.

After the lawyer walked away, Dave turned to Emily and said, "OK, Em. Let's head home." She nodded and they walked together out of the medical center.

 **####**

Hotch was sitting at his desk waiting to hear how things went with the interview Boyd Keeler did with the US Attorney and FBI. When he had received Emily's phone call, he had called his contact who had helped them get the records and explained the situation to him. He had called back 20 minutes later with news that they had a lawyer from their office heading over to the medical center to witness Boyd Keeler's statement.

While he had been waiting for that phone call, Hotch had briefed Strauss on the situation. Agreeing with Dave and Emily's assessment that they couldn't take the statement, she contacted the head of the New York City FBI office and asked for agents to go and do the interview after explaining the circumstances.

They had all met up at the medical center and started the interview 2 hours earlier.

Just then his phone beeped with an incoming text from Dave that they were heading back to the airport. Hotch sent a confirmation reply after looking at his watch, noticing that they should have plenty of time to get to the airport for their flight home.

He sighed as he stood up before he started to pack up his briefcase. With Emily out of town and no urgent cases, he was going to head home early to spend time with the kids before dinner.

He didn't pack any files because after his text conversation with Dave he knew that Emily wasn't taking the news of Sebastian Prentiss threatening Mildred Taylor and Boyd Keeler well. After they got the kids to bed, he was hoping she would open up to him about how she was feeling.

He shook his head, not knowing how much more Emily could take. It seemed like since the night they heard of the Ambassador's death it had been one horrible revelation after another with the only positive being that she found out that Dave was her biological father. Even that was bittersweet considering the emotional angst of what Dave had experienced for all these years. Luckily after a few awkward days, they had both fully committed to establishing a real father/daughter relationship.

The weight of all the changes was starting to affect her. Of all the revelations, lawsuits, etc that had happened, in his opinion what she was having the hardest part with is the current uncertainty of her identity. He wished that they had been able to get a sooner court date but Neil Anders had done the best he could.

Even when they got there, Hotch wasn't sure what was going to happen. The FBI was opposed to the court tossing out her Prentiss identity due to the number of cases she had a role in under that identity. And a part of him didn't blame them but a bigger part needed for his wife to regain that certainty without a constant reminder of all the illegality that lead her to become a Prentiss.

As he was closing his briefcase, there was a knock on his door. After groaning, he said enter. When the door opened, he saw a pale and nervous Reid standing in the doorway.

Taking a couple of steps towards him, Hotch said, "Spencer what's wrong?"

Spencer looked around at what was in Hotch's office before he said, "they hurt her Hotch. I need to go." before turning back around and walking back toward the bullpen.

Hotch looked back at shocked, not sure what was going on and who the 'her' was. Walking out of his office a few steps behind Reid, Hotch ask, "Spencer, who is hurt?"

Spencer turned with tears in his eyes before he said, "my mother."

 **####**

Hotch was sitting in the airport with Spencer, waiting at the gate where the flight that Dave and Emily would be arriving. After Spencer had mentioned the person who was hurt was his mother, the team gathered in the conference room.

Spencer explained what was said in the phone call from the Sanitarium where is she lived. According to the doctor, a man and a woman had come by to visit her earlier in the afternoon. When they approached Diana, she became agitated because she didn't recognize the couple.

Just as the nurse approached them to ask them to leave since they were upsetting Diana, she saw the woman inject Diana in the neck with something that caused her to fall to the floor. The visiting woman started shouting it was complements of William Reid.

The staff immediately rushed to Diana but in the melee, the woman was able to escape but they were able to restrain her male accomplice until the police arrived. Diana had been taken to a nearby hospital but wasn't doing well. The police were in the process of analyzing the syringe to find out what substance she was injected. The man was in police custody and hadn't said a word.

By the time they got to a stopping point when Hotch said he would go with Reid to Las Vegas, he had been unable to get Emily or Dave on the phone. So now they were waiting for the flight to arrive so they could talk to them briefly before Emily and Dave went home and Hotch and Reid got on a plane.

Hotch was broken out of his thoughts when the flight started to deplane. When Emily saw him, she looked surprised and nudged Dave. They both grew concerned as they moved closer and saw Spencer sitting a short distance away looking at the floor, lost in thought.

Dave reached him first and asked, "Aaron, what going on? What happened?"

Hotch sighed and explained to them about the call Spencer had received as well as the information Garcia had discovered before they had headed to the airport. After hearing what happened Emily walked away from them and went over and sat next to Spencer.

Hotch and Dave watch Emily and Spencer interacted. Dave turned to Hotch and asked, "so what's the plan?"

Hotch sighed before answering, "I'm going to head to Las Vegas with him. Diana isn't doing well and I don't want him to be alone."

Dave shook his head as he said, "Aaron, I'll go with him. You need to stay here. Emily is going to need you. She is taking what we learned today hard."

Hotch sighed, "We didn't get a chance to talk about what you learned. How bad?"

"Bad. Sebastian Prentiss went and threatened them along with two of his lawyers. I'll let her tell you the rest. I've talked to her with some success but she is going to need you. I can handle going with Spencer."

"OK. If you're sure. I'd prefer to not be away from the office with Strauss doing her evaluation anyway. Let's go tell him and then get the ticket changed."

 **####**

Hotch and Emily both sat down on the couch in their family room. After they had stayed long enough to assure that Dave could buy a ticket to Las Vegas, they had made a quick stop at Will and JJ's to pick up their tired and cranky kids who had been immediately taken to bed when they arrived home.

Now that the kids were in bed, Hotch was hoping Emily would share with him what Boyd Keeler had told them. After sitting silently for several minutes, Emily stood up and walked over to the cabinet were they kept the liquor. After she pulled a glass out for herself, she turned to him, silently asking if he wanted some. He shook his head and she nodded and she turned back to the bottle of scotch. After pouring herself a glass, she drank the entire amount in one gulp, welcoming the burn in her throat.

Hotch watched warily as he observed her drink. With it been over a year since Emily drank, Hotch expected that it won't take much for her to become drunk, particularly if she drank anymore as she had the last glass. After she placed the glass back on the shelf, Emily's gaze did not move from the bottle.

Not sure what she was thinking, Hotch sat on the edge of his seat. He would much rather delay this needed conversation than have her drink herself into the bottom of a bottle.

He was relieved when she turned around and walked back to the couch without the glass. After sitting down, she turned to him and sighed before she said, "I want to be angry with her. I wanted to hate her but I can't."

Hotch looked at her as he asked, "Who? Mildred Taylor?" Dave had not mentioned anything about her in what he did tell Hotch about what they had learned.

Emily nodded before she said, "When I was born, she was 37. Can you even imagine becoming a grandparent at 37? She had been widowed when she was 22 and raised her two kids by herself while working two jobs.

I've worked two jobs before and it's exhausting. I can't even imagine how hard it was to do that and on top of it have to be mom and dad to two kids. It had to have been so hard for her.

Then when Emma became pregnant, she could see history repeating itself particularly with Dave being in the military. Of course she wanted something different for her daughter. Then she was grief stricken when Emma died and on the advice of a trusted doctor, gave me to those lawyers. A doctor who is just as guilty as the lawyers if not more so as far as I'm concerned." Emily huffed and stood up and started pacing.

"So you believe that they took advantage of her?"

Emily turned to face him and nodded, "I do. I certainly don't agree with what she did. She had a legal resource in her fiance but didn't utilize him at all. That confused me until we were on the plane home that she was so use to doing everything herself that she didn't think to ask for help. I get that because I tend to do the same thing though not as much anymore." She paused and started pacing again before continuing, "did Dave tell you what happened when he came home?"

Hotch nodded before he said, "he told me a bit but I want to hear the story from you."

Emily stopped pacing and looked back over at the bottle of scotch before shaking her head and started pacing again as she said, "when Dave came home, the adoption lawyers threatened them and they threatened to hurt Dave. The restraining order against Dave - Judge McRae signed it not Judge Keeler. They were so intent on protecting themselves at any cost. They even contacted my family and their lawyers.

The man who I thought was my dad threatened Mildren and Boyd Keeler after he sent me out of the country. Told them they could do whatever but he would sue them and he would make sure they didn't get me back." She stopped and looked down at her hands before saying quietly, "he talked of me like I was a piece of property or a possession, Aaron.

And what sucks most is that he was right. They couldn't prove I was her grandchild or Dave's daughter. They couldn't have gotten me back once he had me out of the country." She paused again and sat back down on the couch before saying slurring her words, "the whole thing is one big cluster."

Hotch sighed as this was worse than what he expected. He was just hoping that they had finished unraveling the last of the surprises. Hotch pull her back against him and kissed her forehead. Eventually he could feel her relax in his arms.

After sitting silently together on the couch for a while longer. Hotch leaned in and said quietly next to her ear, "let's head to bed, sweetheart. It's getting late and it's been a long day." Feeling Emily nod, he stood up and held out his hand for her. Noticing Emily was a little unsteady when she stood up, he wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked towards the stairs.

As they were climbing the stairs, Emily said, "Aaron."

"Yes, sweetheart."

"Is what happened to Diana my fault. Is it because we went to see him today." Emily said as she looked over at him.

Hotch shook head realizing that she should have expected the question before he said firmly, "no Emily. The firm he works for has been investigated for years. The FBI is just getting close which is why it happened today. Garcia didn't see any link to your visit today."

Emily nodded before she said solemnly, "OK. I just don't want to lose Spencer too." She sighed before continuing, "if she isn't OK, he is going to be devastated. Thank you for wanting to go with him. He shouldn't be alone."

Hotch again had to work hard to control his anger towards Morgan. He leaned over and kissed her forehead as he said, "he's not and neither are you. Dave will make sure he's OK and help him take care of anything that Diana needs. We'll check in with them tomorrow."

 **AN: I have already started chapter 29 and will publish as soon as it's finished. In that chapter Derek will be called out and will explain what has been up with him.**


	29. Chapter 29

**AN: I want to offer a big apology for how long it as taken me to update this story. After I posted the last chapter, I had a block on this story and for the longest time couldn't work past it. It is not quite what I had planned for this chapter but after rewriting it numerous times,this is what I have ended with. The next chapter is almost done and I hope to post it later this week or early next week. The epilogue just needs to be edited and will be post shortly after chapter 30.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **CHAPTER 29**

Sam Cooper walked into his office and closed the door. Sitting down at his desk, he contemplates what had been one of the strangest months in the BAU since he joined it. Given the mandate for the unit, that was quite a feat.

First, in the beginning of December, there were rumors that Dave Rossi and Emily Prentiss were having an affair after they were spotted disappearing into a room together. Cooper had rolled his eyes and shut the rumors down hard when he heard them.

Those rumors reignited after Dave punched AD Donaldson a few days later when he approached Dave and Emily during a conversation. Again Cooper had shut down the gossip as he overheard it, knowing there had to be another explanation.

Cooper had known Dave for a long time. They had worked together on the original BAU team that Dave and Jason Gideon had formed. Even back in the days when Dave was dating his way through the Bureau, he had some hard passes on who he would and wouldn't become involved with. No married women. No one who couldn't accept that he wasn't looking for a relationship. And no one on the team or who worked closely with the team.

Cooper wouldn't believe that those passes had changed unless he heard from a reliable source.

A couple of days later a summons to Strauss' office along with the other Unit Chiefs of the BAU filled him with dread. There had been no word from administration since Dave had punched Donaldson. Dave had not been seen in the office since that day. Emily was seemingly out of the office as well. Hotch and his team were in the office but had closed ranks.

When they were settled in Strauss' office she slowly explained the sequence of events that had been happening. Cooper had been floored when Strauss had stated that Emily was Dave's missing daughter. Of all the possibilities of what she was going to say, that didn't even come to his mind.

He had known about Sophia almost as long as he had known Dave. He had seen the picture that he knew Dave carried in his wallet for years. He had helped look for her. Now it turns out that she had unknowingly been under all their noses for a few years now.

Strauss had continued that Dave was suspended because of his actions in assaulting Donaldson. Then she said that Emily was taking some time off and explained who was going to be covering her job responsibilities during that time.

Cooper had been glad to hear that Greene was assigned to handle all intake of cases and consults for the BAU because they had been discussing his options after his last medical checkup failed to allow him back into the field.

Now over a month later, Cooper was again walking back to his office after a meeting with Strauss. She had asked for his help with issues on Aaron Hotchner's team, namely issues surrounding Derek Morgan. It was his openness to assignments like this which had Strauss willing to overlook his frequently late paperwork.

She asked him to help informally because if she needed to get involved, it would make it official and that would make things messy. She wanted to avoid that step if she could help it. But now he needed to think about what he could do to help.

Strauss had mentioned that he hadn't taken the news of Emily's paternity well and as she was observing the team, there was friction with his teammates and that was even before Rossi returned from his suspension. Hotch had remained professional however he was difficult position because of the unique circumstances.

Generally in a situation such as this, Dave would be at the center of bringing members of the team together to working out whatever the issue was. However, in this case, although he was in the center of the issue, he wasn't going to be able to fix the dysfunction. In fact, Strauss had shared with Cooper that from what she had observed, things may actually get worse once Dave was back in the office if the conflicts weren't addressed before then.

And if that happened or things didn't improve soon, she would have to seriously consider making some hard choices about team compositions within the BAU. Given Greene's current medical limitation, she had mentioned that Morgan may be coming over to his team. Cooper sighed. As much as Morgan would make a strong addition for his team in the field, this is not the way he wanted to gain an agent.

 **####**

When Derek Morgan walked into the bullpen after lunch he was confused about the message he had received. From Cooper needing to talk to him. He mentioned to Blake where he would be if anyone was looking for him. Based on how things had been recently, he didn't expect that to happen.

He walked down the hall to Cooper's office and knocked on the door. He walked in after Cooper waved him in as he finished a phone call. Once he hung up, Cooper gestured to the chairs in front of his desk.

After he sat down, Derek looked over the desk and asked, "so what's up? Your message was vague on what you needed to see me about?"

Cooper sighed and leaned forward with his forearms resting on his desk as he said, "Yeah Derek. I need to talk to you about the tension that is going on with your team right now. More specifically, your role in it."

Derek sat up straight and glared at Cooper before he said harshly, "Hotch put you up to this?"

Cooper shook his head before responding, "It wasn't Hotch. As far as I know, Hotch doesn't even know that we are meeting or what we are going to talk about today."

Derek huffs and crosses his arms over his chest before asking, "then who asked you to talk to me?"

Cooper paused as he noted the impudent response from the younger agent. Trying to hide his annoyance he responded with a seriousness in his tone, "Strauss. She has been observing your team since Dave's suspension. He comes back next week and your team goes back on rotation and she understandably has some concerns."

"Is that so?" Morgan fired back.

Cooper shook his head and for a second wondered if he should even try to get through to him before remembering that he had promised Strauss that he would try. Straightening his back he responded, "yeah, I talked to her this morning. What is up with you Derek?"

Derek stood up and started pacing in the room as he said, "It's about finding out that Rossi is Prentiss' biological father. We've all heard the rumors about him sleeping his way through the Bureau back in the day. She just accepted it with open arms without knowing how invested he is in being a father. Every time I think about it, I remember the stories she had told about growing up. I think about all that has happened over the last few month to her. I get angry."

"At what or who?" Cooper asked though he was almost certain he knew what Morgan was going to say.

Morgan gumbled, "Rossi."

Cooper sighed before saying, "Derek, this wasn't Dave's fault."

"How do you know man?" Morgan asked irritatedly.

Cooper stood up and said forcefully, "Derek, you're way off base. He left Emily's mother because he was a Marine being who was being deployed not by choice." Cooper paused and sat back down before continuing, "I worked with Dave for a long time. It wasn't long after we met that I heard about Sophia. I know he hasn't shared that part of his life with all of you but back when I started, we all knew about her. He looked unsuccessfully for her for years. After he was forced by a former director to stop, there were some of us that keep looking for her."

"So he wanted the baby?" Derek asked skeptically as he sat back down. This was not how he expected this conversation to go.

Cooper smiled at him before becoming serious as he said, "very much so. He didn't give up custody. She was illegally given up for adoption when her mother, Emma died. By the time he was discharged from the Marines and able to get back, Emily was already gone."

Derek huffed and cross his arms in front of him as he said, "I just have a hard time with as many women as he has been with he would be that devoted to one woman and one child."

Cooper sighed before saying, "Emma was different for Dave. I didn't know him then but I'm guessing Dave was different too."

Derek cocked his head before asking, "different how?"

Cooper sighed as he hoped that his old friend wouldn't be upset at what he was going to share with Morgan. He shook his head before saying, "Emma and Dave were high school sweethearts though from what he said they knew each other longer than that. They planned to marry but that was delayed when he went into the military. It was evident anytime he spoke of her how much he loved Emma. For Dave, Emma was 'The One' for him."

When he looked back over at Morgan after making air quotes around 'the one', Cooper could see the change in Morgan's expression that told him he was making some progress. They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes before Morgan said stunned, "that's why he was so determined to find their child?"

Cooper slowly nodded and sighed before looking back over at Derek and calmly saying, "I think Dave would have wanted to be involved in the life of any child of his but in this case yes, Sophia was the only link he had left of Emma. Proof of the love they shared, the love he had for her. At one point he mentioned that he felt like he would have failed Emma if her stopped looking for Sophia. He couldn't let go of trying to find her. And I can guarantee that as upset as you are about stories she has told about negative things that happened when she was growing up are affecting him more than they are you."

Cooper paused before continuing, "I don't know if she has figured it out yet but he will do anything for Emily now that he has found her. And I mean anything. She holds a lot of power over him." Cooper scratched his chin as he wondered if anyone had spoken to her about it. He would need to check with Katie and Strauss and make sure one of them did.

Derek shook his head not at all ready to concede to Cooper's declaration about what Emma was to Dave as he blurted out, "but he married three times Cooper."

Cooper nodded and answered sadly, "yeah he did. He was trying to move on. We all met his first wife, Caroline. She is a wonderful woman and care about Dave very much. All of us were hoping and praying that they would find happiness. But no woman wants to come in third in her husband's life particularly when one is seemingly the ghost of the child of the love of his life and the other is this job. I believe at another time and place, they would have worked as there was no doubt that they loved each other. Not the same as he had with Emma but something they could have built on."

Cooper paused before continuing, "I don't know much about his second or third wives other than their marriages could be measured in days and hours respectively. After his last one broke up, it seemed as if something broke in him. Something different than what was broken because of Emma and Sophia."

"So he just gave up?" Derek asked curiously having never heard these details about his colleague. But in context what Cooper said would explain the reactions of the agents that had worked with Dave years earlier as well as the protectiveness he had observed from Katie Cole, Strauss and now Cooper of Dave and this aspect of his life.

Cooper sighed and nodded as he remembered Dave when he told all of them about the end of his third marriage to someone none of them had met before saying sadly, "he didn't say specifically but yeah. It was only after that that he started dating his way through the Bureau, never staying with anyone very long. He did have specific rules which is why I immediately discounted the recent rumors started about him and Emily having an affair even before I learned the truth.

He was meeting his needs without allowing himself to get too close to anyone again. But after a while it did get him a reputation. One he still can't shake even though it is not really accurate even aside from Emma and Sophia."

"I misinterpreted what he had done." Derek said absentmindedly.

Cooper nodded as he answered, "sounds like it. But the important question is what are you going to do about it now?"

 **####**

Emily was reorganizing her kitchen as she thought about the latest delay on her court date. Her lawyers had called the previous Friday to let her know that the court needed more time to process her case.

According to Neil, given the unique circumstances, the FBI director and judge decided to consult the DOJ to make sure however the courts resolved Emily's case that it was done in a way that would assure the integrity of her work within the FBI and well as assure that no inmates were able to be released on a technicality. A complication that had come up when a convicted serial killer that Emily's testimony had helped put in prison petitioned the court to have his conviction overturned because the issues with her identity.

The FBI was investigating how the inmate was able to find out in a maximum security prison as they worked on a plan on what had been their worst fear when they were alerted to the issues with her adoption in December. The FBI director had petitioned the court to maintain a record of her Prentiss identity citing this new request.

Unfortunately all of this took time and no changes to her status could happen at this point until the higher ups decided how to do it.

Today she had to the kids back with the nannies who this week were at Will and JJ's. They were at an age were she was concerned with changing their routine for too long as they had already been home for three weeks over the holidays. It would just make the situation harder for them when she did go back to work whenever that ended up happening.

As she was reorganizing the cabinet with pots and pans, Emily groaned when she heard the doorbell ring. It was the middle of the day and in her experience, the only people that rang the doorbell were people soliciting. Turning her attention back to the task at hand, she banged her fists on the floor when the doorbell rang again as she realized they weren't going to leave on their own.

Standing up she wiped her hands on the towel sitting on the counter before walking towards the front door noticing the shadow of someone standing still standing there.

As she opened the door and saw who was standing there, she narrowed her eyes and hissed, "what do you want?" as she blocked the entrance. Over the weeks, Emily disappointment and sadness had turned to anger as more time when on without hearing from Derek.

Derek had been expecting her to be upset after mentioning to Hotch that he wanted to go talk to her but was not prepared for this level of anger. He put his hands out as said, "Emily I want to talk."

Emily didn't move but gave a humorless chuckle before she said, "oh now you want to talk."

Derek dropped his head before shaking it. He then looked back up at her and said sadly, "Emily, I'm sorry. "

Emily huffed and walked away from the door without closing it completely. Derek looked in and saw her walking back towards the kitchen. He took it as a passive invitation and stepped into the house closing the door behind him. When the door clicked, Emily turned and looked at him standing in the entryway and said, "don't let the door hit you on the way out." before turning and walking to the kitchen.

It was at that point that it finally hit him how much he had screwed up. He friend and former partner didn't even want to be in his presence. When he hesitantly stepped into the kitchen, he saw Emily rapidly typing on her phone.

When she stopped, she placed the phone on the counter before looking over at him in the doorway. She rolled her eyes before saying, "well if you are going to stay, you need to make yourself useful. Hand me the pots and pans off that counter so I can put them back into the cabinet." After sitting down on the floor, Emily instructed him on what items to hand her in what order so she could put all of them away.

Once she had finished and stood up, Emily looked over at Derek and then turned and refilled her water glass. As she stood at the fridge, she looked at him and gestured to the cabinet with the glasses. He nodded and she reached to take one out before also filling it with water. As she handed it to him, she said tiredly, "what do you want Derek?"

Derek sat on one of the stools at the counter before saying, "I want to talk and I need to apologize to you."

Emily nodded and then softly said, "why Derek?"

Derek sighed and said, "I kept coming back to stories you have told about growing up . Dave has a reputation in the Bureau. I wasn't sure if he was going to be up to the role that you were expecting."

Emily bristled at the explanation before Derek heard her mumbling about pots and kettles and stones and glass houses.

Derek had also gained a reputation within the Bureau. Before Derek could respond she continued angrily, "would you have been happier if I found out my birth parents had been drug addicts and prostitutes? Then you could have said 'I told you so'. Is that it?" As she finished, Emily turned away from him and wiped the side of her eyes.

"No" Derek said quietly.

Turning back to face him, Emily said, "the news came as a shock to both of us but not an unwelcome one. Dave has been a positive influence in my life for a few years now. And when he told me three years ago he was all in, he actually followed through." She looked at him pointedly until he looked away, embarrassed.

Derek shook his head wondering if this was something they were going to be able to get past before he said, "Emily, you're right and I'm sorry."

Emily nodded before she responded morosely, "I believed you Derek. I believed you when you said you'd be there when we talked on the roof. And when push came to shove, you weren't. And as if that wasn't hurtful enough, you didn't call or send a message or visit."

"I didn't know what to say."

Emily continued, "I saw you in the office last week Derek and you didn't say anything. Not even hello. Do you have any idea how that made me feel that you couldn't even say hi? I had just gotten more crappy news and that is what I remember."

Derek shook his head before answering, "I knew I needed to apologize to you. I was planning to come by your office to talk but you were already gone when I get there."

Emily shook her head before she said, "That was over a week ago and this is the first I've heard from you so you must not have wanted to talk to me that urgently." She paused before continuing, "there wasn't any point on being there considering I'm not allowed to do anything."

Derek cocked his head and asked her confused, "what do you mean? Is that why you are home?"

Emily sighed and nodded as she answered, "I'm on paid leave until the issues with my identity are settled. They have rescheduled the court hearing to do that twice now. Legally Emily Prentiss never existed but I have been living as her for 31 years. All of my FBI paperwork has been done under that name. Now that we all know that isn't who I am, I can't work under what we now know isn't my real name. Until I go to court, I'm in No Man's Land for my identity.

And with the uncertainty, one of the UNSUBs we have put away have somehow found out and now one is petitioning for full release. Everyone is worried if they don't settled it looking at the big picture, his release could happen on a technicality. And if one is successful, then how many more will try? That can't happen."

Derek said not sure to say after the hearing what she had been dealing with over the last few weeks, "wow. So what have you been doing?"

Emily walked over to a stool on the other end of the counter before saying, "well in December it was easier. I had a week before Aaron was off. Everything was so new at that point. I spent time with the kids. Dave and I talked a lot. I had time to do more Christmas planning that I did most years.

But we thought I would be able to do some work when I went back in January but when I went into work last week, I found out from Strauss that legal recommended paid leave until everything to cleared by the courts and now I don't know when that is going to be. None of us do."

"Have you been seeing a lot of Dave?" Derek asked.

Emily smiled and nodded before saying, "yeah, up until he went to Vegas with Spencer. We, uh, went up to New York to see Boyd Keeler."

Derek's head shot up and he said forcefully, "why would you want to talk to him?"

Emily could feel her anger rising again at his response. She didn't owe him an explanation. But she sighed remembering that they were trying to work things out. Tamping down her anger she answered, "because he was the only one left who I could possibly get answers from who was around back then."

Derek shook his head before asking, "and did you? Get answers? What could he have possibly told you that would make what they did OK?"

Emily said annoyed, "I wasn't expecting him to make it OK. I just needed to know what happened. Good news is he was agreeable to making an official statement."

Derek stopped and looked at her confused before saying, "official statement. For what reason?"

Emily sighed before she said, "for one thing, to use against the lawyers that represented the Prentiss family when the are found. Apparently they along with my 'father' threatened them after they contacted the adoption lawyer after Dave got out of the Marines and went to them looking for me."

"What?" Derek shouted. He hadn't heard anything about the Prentiss' being involved with keeping Emily away from Dave once he returned from the Marines.

Emily nodded before continuing, "yeah. Told them I was his and they would never get me back because they couldn't prove anything. Threatened to ruin them if they tried."

"Damn. Did he try to justify why they sold you?" Derek asked as this was a part that had really bothered him since the details of her adoption had started to come out.

Emily sighed again before saying, "yeah and after hearing that part, I can't be angry."

"Why not, they sold you Emily!" Derek shouted not believing that she was going to let them off the hook.

Emily know once she explained he would understand better so not responding to his anger, she stated, "because Mildred Taylor was a 37 year old single mom who had raised her 2 kids alone after she was widowed at 22.

When Dave was deployed Mildred was worried that history was going to repeat itself and she didn't want that for her daughter. She was also manipulated by a doctor she trusted about who to go to for the adoption while mourning the loss of her child."

Derek sat back stunned at what Emily just said. Having been raised by a single mom after his father died, he recognized how hard it was for her even with the help of his aunt.

He then said, "I can't imagine. Can you imagine being a parent at 19 or a grandparent at 37?"

Emily sighed because she had thought about this, especially in all of her free time since her and Dave got back from New York. About what her life would have been like if she hadn't had that abortion when she was 15. With everything she learned over the last few months, she was even less sure than she had been at the time that the Ambassador would have helped her at all.

But as she sat there she nervously considered that she never shared that part of her life with Derek. Early in her time with her team she pick up that most of the time Derek looked at the world in black and white, right or wrong terms. She feared that no matter how she explained not just this but a lot of what she did in her teens he would judge her and it would adversely affect their partnership.

But right now things between them were strained because of him avoiding her for the last few weeks had deeply affected her. But then she shrugged. If he was going to have an issue, then it was better to know now as she has an organic opportunity to open up to him about her experience. If she found that he was going to judge her then maybe their friendship wasn't worth saving.

She sighed and looked at him as she said, "yeah I have been thinking about it since we got back. A lot actually. Not many people know and I really don't want to talk about it but I was pregnant when I was 15 so it has come even closer to home."

Derek looked over at her not sure what to say. This was something he hadn't known at all about her until today. And there were multiple questions that he wanted to ask her. But he stopped himself before one could slip out.

Emily had just clearly said she didn't want to talk about it. And as well as he knew her, he knew she wasn't going to say anymore on the subject regardless of what questions were asked. She had opened up to him which happened slowly for his private colleague. He also realized that it was a test of sorts on whether he would accept the information and respect her request. And given that he wanted to put their friendship back on a positive path, he decided to do just that.

Emily quietly observe as she could see the gears turning as Derek processed what she just said. She could see him looking like to was going to say something a few times before stopping himself. After they sat in silence for several minutes, Derek cleared his throat and asked, "have you and Dave gotten the chance to talk since you got back from New York?"

Emily, thankful that Derek respected her request not to talk about what said, let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in relief at the change in subject. Looking over at him, she responded, "not really. We were both taken aback by what we learned. Aaron and Spencer met us at the airport and Dave flew out to Vegas with him that night. We have talked since then but what we learned in New York isn't really something either of us wants to talk about on the phone."

"Do you know when they are coming back? How is Spencer's mom doing?" Derek asked having not heard any details since Spencer received that phone call.

Emily shuddered as she remembered the call from Dave that had filled her and Aaron in on what had happened before answering, "Diana is stable. The medication they injected her with was to raise her blood pressure. The mindset is that they were trying to raise her blood pressure to a dangerous level and that would cause her to have a heart attack or stroke. Thankfully she is on blood pressure medication so while it did raise it and she did have a mild stroke, it could have been much worse."

"What is the plan? Is Spencer staying out there indefinitely?" Derek asked worriedly knowing how close Spencer was to his mom.

Emily gave a small smile before adding, "now that she is stable her doctor there has approved her to be flown here to continue her recovery. As long as there aren't any setbacks, that will happen tomorrow. Dave and Spencer will be on the same flight."

Derek nodded as he said, "that is good news. I'm glad she is going to be OK. Did they catch the person who did it?"

Emily nodded before saying, "yeah. Well one of the two was caught before they could escape. The other was caught yesterday and after being offered a deal has been cooperative. He gave them the location of William Reid and others from the firm. Last I heard they were going in to arrest them tonight." It was a relief to get that piece of information that at least that part of the case was going forward.

Derek nodded before saying, "that's good." He paused and looked around the kitchen before continuing, "so what have you been doing with your time off, other than organizing your kitchen."

Emily laughed before saying, "Well, in December I only thought I was going to have that time since the plan was to go back in January with everyone else. I spent time with the kids, did Christmas stuff, decorated along with other stuff I generally don't have time for.

Over the last week or so, I haven't wanted to upset the kids schedules too much since they are so young and I will hopefully be going back to work at some point soon. That said, I have had them home a couple of days and reduce the time they are away from home. I've slowly been reorganizing since I don't know when I will ever have the time again. Oh and I've been binge watching TV other than kid channels."

They sat quietly for a few minutes before an idea came into Derek's head. He looked over at her grinning as he asked, "do you have any interest in going to the gym?"

Emily smiled as her head popped up and she answered surprised "yeah that would be great." She paused and bit her lip before continuing, "you know that it still won't solve everything right."

Derek sighed and nodded before he said, "I know. What do I need to do Emily?"

Emily nodded before saying, "you need to apologize to Dave. You made some significant assumptions about him. Wrong and hurtful assumptions at that. As for me, you just need to give me time. I trusted you. You promised that you would support me and when I needed that support, you weren't there."

Derek nodded then said, "I'll do my best to earn your trust back. I'll talk to Dave when he gets back."


	30. Chapter 30

**AN: This is the last chapter for this story. The epilogue will uploaded later today.**

 **CHAPTER 30**

Hotch and Emily walked down the hallway towards the courtroom they had been told her case was going to be heard in. Their lawyer, Neil Anders had told them that he would meet them there before the hearing. The day she had been waiting for had finally arrived.

As they came closer, Emily could feel her nerves increasing. They had steadily been increasing since she had received the call earlier in the week that the judge was ready to schedule the hearing.

But she knew after today, her life could return to some semblance of normal. A call from Strauss had confirmed that she could return to her position the following week after meeting with HR. Strauss also wanted to talk to her about some changes to her job responsibilities the day she returned. She had promised that Emily would still have her team and the changes were meant to be positive. Strauss had also promised her a couple of days to settle back in before her new subordinates would start on her team.

When they reached the courtroom Neil Anders was waiting for them just outside the doors. After exchanging greetings, he led both of them to a private consult room nearby stating that the case before them was running over and they could wait here until they could go into the courtroom.

As they walked into the room, they noticed a fresh pot of coffee had been prepared. Walking over to the coffee pot, Hotch prepared cups for him and Emily as Mr Anders declined. As they sat down at the table and waited, Neil updated them on developments on finding the two missing lawyers from the Prentiss family firm. They had both been located and detained and they were just waiting on extradition now. The investigation of the firm had started to raise red flags not just on Emily's case but also on other trust accounts. He shared his optimism that this evidence along with the taped testimony from Boyd Keeler, the case against both of them appeared strong.

During their discussion, there was a knock on the door before it slowly opened and Dave stuck his head into the room before stepping fully and closing the door. As he walked towards the table, he looked at Emily and asked, "are you ready?"

As planned, Dave had flown back with Spencer on Diana's medical transport the previous week. Since then he had been busy helping Spencer get Diana settled and heading back to work now that his suspension was finished.

However he had made the time to come over for dinner most nights after work. At Hotch and Emily's insistence Spencer had come as well. It wasn't at all unusual as Spencer had been a frequent visitor to the house particularly after Emily left the team. And right now all of them wanted to be there for him. They knew that the younger agent was struggling with the medical diagnosis of his mother and could use the emotional support.

Emily and Dave had also used those evenings to start talking about what they had learned in New York. Dave had been similarly conflicted about what Boyd Keeler had told them. He had been upset with both Boyd Keeler and Mildred Taylor for so long that he hadn't considered what their side of the situation could have been.

He had been at the house the evening Emily had received the call about the court date being set. When Emily told him and Aaron what the call was about and when the date would be, Dave promised he would be there. Emily found out later that he spoke to Strauss first thing the next morning and had gotten the day off.

After dinner the night before, Dave had let her know that he had gotten a message from Boyd Keeler's lawyer with the shipping information for Emma's belongings that they both had been anxiously awaiting since they had been made aware of the boxes.

Emily nodded nervously as she said, "yes. Are they ready for us?" before standing up and walking over to hug Dave.

As he kept an arm around her shoulders, Dave nodded and said, "the last case finished about 10 minutes ago and they are letting people in now." Hotch and Neil walked over to them before the four of them walked out of the room.

When they stepped into the courtroom, Emily was shocked but not surprised to see the team in the first row. These were the friends who had been with her throughout the whole emotional roller coaster she had been on since she had received the notification of the Ambassador's death not that many months ago.

After walking up to them, she, in turn, hugged Spencer, Garcia and JJ before turning to greet Will. JJ explained that Alex offered to stay behind as contact for the team so the rest of them could be there.

Looking around, Emily sighed when when she didn't see Derek with them. She had been hoping after their talk last week that he would have come. In addition to a couple of sessions in the gym they had gotten together another time to talk but only after Derek had apologized to Dave. According to others on the team Derek had received an earful from Dave. She had thought that they had been making progress.

Just as she was going to head up to sit where her lawyer gestured they were going to be sitting, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Derek standing there. He leaned in and gave her a hug as well. Standing back, Emily then saw Katie Cole, Cooper and Strauss sitting in the first row on the other side of the aisle.

Derek grinned at her and explained, "I was holding Dave's seat for him. Now that he has found both of you, I'm going to go back and sit next to Baby Girl."

Emily smiled as she saw Dave take his seat next to Cooper. Looking at the four of them sitting there in the row together, Emily could see the closeness between the long time friends. They had supported him through everything for years. They had continued searching even without him knowing because finding her had been important to him.

Then since her search for her birth parents had identified Dave as her father all three had been incredibly protective of him. She just hoped that she would have that close of a bond 20-30 years from now with the team even when they all moved onto different roles.

Aaron touching her arm brought her back to the present. Moving forward, they stopped at the table where their attorney was waiting for them and they all sat down.

Before her nerves could grow after she sat down, they all stood as the bailiff called court to order. They all watched as the judge walked into the courtroom carrying a large stack of paperwork.

After everyone was settled back into their seats Judge Clark adjusted her glasses before addressing Emily, "Mrs Hotchner, the circumstances of what happened to you has presented what all in the legal community strive to never happen. While the leaders of the ring that transferred your custody as an infant were arrest, tried and incarcerated over a decade ago, as you have found in the last few months the consequences have continued for those affected. I refuse to refer to it as an adoption since none of the laws governing adoptions were respected and as such did not meet the legal threshold for a legal adoption.

We are here today to attempt to reverse as much as we can the effects that the maleficence cause by greed years ago. However the unique factors in your case have challenged this court in reaching that goal. In addition to a name change, in your case your date of birth was also deliberately changed which has added an additional level of complication to determining your true identity.

While it wasn't this court that participated in the misconduct, it became the responsibility of this court to remedy it as best as we can. This is a responsibility we have taken seriously. While it has taken longer than any of us would have like to have gotten to this point, we are finally here."

The judge paused and turned her focus the the pile of papers in front of her. As she paged through the papers, she said, "after reviewing the evidence that had been in possession of the prosecutor's office from the original McRae/Howard trial including the documentation that the FBI was able to link to you along with the adoption papers you recovered from the Prentiss bank box, the taped testimony from Mr Keeler, documentation of Emma Taylor's maternity record, and the results of the DNA test done the court had concluded that you are indeed Sophia Alessandra Maud Rossi born to Emma Louise Taylor and David Rossi on October 23rd 1970." There was a buzz in the spectator section of the courtroom which caused the judge to pause and stare until the courtroom was quiet again.

While looking across the courtroom at Emily, the judge continued, "for the record, the Prentiss adoption was never legal and has been voided. The court however is unable to grant your request to sever your Prentiss identity from your record. It was this aspect of the case that has caused the most questions from the court. The decision was made after consultation from the DOJ. Your substantial history with the FBI and the legal record you establish under the name Prentiss while executing your position as a federal agent has made that impossible."

Emily nodded. She was disappointed however had been expecting this outcome after the last few discussions with their lawyer about the delay. "I understand you honor."

Judge Clark nodded at her answer before continuing, "that said, what we have done is to compartmentalize that part of your record. It will only come out if required. A notation will follow you throughout your career however it will be separate during your day to day life."

At that she stopped and looked around the courtroom. With no objections, she flipped to the next document in front of her and said, "I also have a request for a name change, is that correct?"

Emily nodded as she responded, "yes your honor."

The judge nodded and looked down at the document in front of her as she said, "that request has been granted. Your legal name has been changed to Emily Sophia Maud Rossi. However is it correct that you have chosen to take the surname of Hotchner?" She glanced up to look at Emily.

Emily nodded before she answered, "yes your honor, that is correct."

Looking back down, the judge responded, "OK then that will become official for the record and you will now be known as Emily Sophia Maud Hotchner." The judge paused and looked at Emily compassionately before continuing, "it is unusual that we do this however part of the court's effort to make right what was done to you, we have gone ahead and updated your legal documentation. The bailiff will hand you each item as I go through this pile." She stopped and gestured for the bailiff to approach the bench. Emily cocked her head not sure what was now happening.

After handing a few items to the bailiff who then brought them over and handed them to Emily, the judge continued, "we spoke to the Virginia DMV and they have your updated driver's license." Emily opened the first envelope to see a VA driver's license with her picture and name on it. Her now legal name along with her real birthday.

As soon as she looked up, the judge continued, "we also spoke to the State Department and explained your situation to them. They expressed their regrets that their staff were involved in this illegal act as well as utilized their positions to keep you out of the country and away from your biological family. They expedited your updated passport. I would also expect a phone call from them." Emily looked down and opened the next envelope with contained a US Passport. Opening the booklet, she saw her picture on it with all of her information updated. She closed it and placed it on top of her drivers' license.

She looked up when the judge continued, "the State Department also provided assistance when we spoke to the Social Security Administration and the IRS. They were sent the relevant paperwork and we have sent your information with them. As you can see on the new card, your Social Security number is the same and your name change has been reflected." Nodding, Emily looked down and opened the next envelope which contain the familiar printing of a Social Security card that had her name on it."

Emily placed the card with her license and passport as she looked up when the judge continued, "this court also spoke to the office of Vital Statistics and after forwarding to them your updated information, they have made the changes on your marriage license as well as the birth certificate for your daughter." Emily looked down and opened a larger manila envelope before pulling out both documents that both had her information updated. After looking over each she passed them to Hotch to look at as well. They both looked up when she said, "we have also included a business card for the director of vital statistics that assisted us with the changes. If you have any issues procuring additional copies as needed, please contact him."

They nodded and Hotch placed the documents along with the business card back into the manila envelope. When they both looked back up, the judge continued, "and last but not least, your son's adoption was handled by one of my colleagues. We spoke and he forwarded to this court the updated adoption decree for Jack Hotchner." When they opened the last manila envelope, Emily pulled out the thick document which was indeed a copy of Jack's adoption papers with all of her information updated.

Movement in front of her had Emily looking up. She saw the judge hand the bailiff another piece of paper which he then walked over and handed to Emily. The judge waited until they looked back up before she said, "additionally you are receiving this letter to send to others as needed such as your bank and educational institutions. If you still have issues after submitting the letter, please contact this court and we will assist.

If a problem arises and I am no longer on the bench and my successor is unable to assist you, contact the office of the administrative judge and provide them with the docket number that will be on the final papers from this hearing that your attorney will receive in a few days. This case has been flagged and will stay on the court's radar in the event that you require us to intervene. Do you have any questions?"

Emily shook her head before she said, "no your honor. I do want to thank you and the court for all of the updated documentation."

The judge nodded before saying, "you are welcome Agent Hotchner. We felt it was the least the court could do given the role the court system had in creating the situation in the first place."

The judge paused before looking out into the courtroom and asking, "is Mr. Rossi in attendance today?"

Dave stood up and said, "yes, your honor" as he stepped forward until he was even with Emily.

The judge nodded before saying, "Agent Rossi you also deserve the apologies of the court. Due to greed and abuse of power your right to raise your own child was taken away from you. Laws are in place to assure what happened to you doesn't happen however those safeguards failed in this case. It is especially disheartening given that this happened while you were serving our country. While we can't give you back the time you have lost with each other, we hope that you will have year ahead of you to get to know one another."

"Dave nodded and said, "thank you.'

The judge nodded then said, "this court is in recess" as she tapped the gavel before standing and walking quickly out of the courtroom.

After watching the judge leave the courtroom, Emily sat back down and contemplated what had just happened. After months of putting the pieces together after finding her adoption papers followed by the weeks of waiting for this day, the short hearing itself had seemed anticlimactic.

Emily looked over when she felt Aaron's hand on top of hers. Looking at her, he asked, "are you OK?"

Emily nodded and said, "yeah, let's get out of here." as she stood up. Hotch picked up all of the envelopes and documents that had been given to them to take home. Before they stepped away from the table, Neil told them he would call when he got the final papers before excusing himself.

Katie, Strauss and Cooper each came over to exchange hugs and say goodbye. Strauss let Emily know what she would have her updated badge and credentials Monday morning when they met. The three of them then gave Dave another hugs before walking out of the courtroom together to head back to their respective offices.

The team along with Emily and Hotch walked out of the courtroom before stopping in the hallway. Emily looked at her friends and said, "thank you all for coming today."

They all nodded as JJ said, "it's been a long time coming. For both of you."

"Indeed" Dave answered.

The group was quiet for a couple of minutes before Derek asked, "so what are you going to do the rest of the day, Em?"

Emily chuckled before saying, "well I thought I was going to be spending the afternoon at the DMV trying to get my license sorted out. Since that is done, I don't know. Do you have something in mind?"

Derek looked at his watch before looking back at the group and saying, "well it is almost lunchtime and Strauss gave all of us the day off."

Garcia looked around the group before saying excitedly, "a party. We need to celebrate today."

With everyone nodding, they quickly agreed what each of them would bring. After that was settled, they decided to meet at Emily and Hotch's house in an hour.

A celebration is exactly what was needed today.


	31. Epilogue

**AN: I have also uploaded Chapter 30 today.**

 **This is the end. Thanks to everyone who has supported me as I wrote this story. I mentioned a few chapters ago about possibly writing the sequel I have in mind for this story.**

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

 **EPILOGUE**

The team was heading back to Quantico after helping to solve a case in Chicago. A series of weather related delays had them taking off much later than expected.

About an hour out, JJ came up to where Hotch and Dave were sitting to join them. She, like Hotch, had already changed into a t-shirt, athletic pants and sneakers so they could leave for the soccer fields as soon as they landed.

"I hate that we are going to be late for soccer practice. Was Emily OK with covering for us?" JJ asked nervously. She had played soccer for years however this would be her first experience coaching and hated she was going to be late for one of the first practices.

Hotch nodded as he said, "I talked to her again right before we took off to give her an ETA. She asked who was going to teach her to play soccer."

The three all laughed knowing that soccer wasn't Emily's sport of choice before JJ said, "that doesn't sound promising."

Hotch shrugged as they couldn't do much about when they were going to get there at this point and while she was unsure, Hotch knew that Emily would put the effort in until he and JJ arrived. In an attempt to reassure JJ, he said, "well, I hope with the kids being 3 and 4 years olds she should be OK. She was at practice with us a couple of times and I gave her some ideas of activities they could try until we arrive."

"We'll see when get there." JJ replied before looking out the window of the plane.

 **####**

When Hotch and JJ arrived at the fields, they quickly looked over at the field their team was assigned to and laughed at what they saw. Emily was there with the boys' team but she was not alone. She was wearing Caitlin on her front and Natalie on her back. Emily had not mentioned to him about bringing the girls and she had been apprehensive enough that he expected that she would have had them stay with their nanny but obviously that wasn't the case.

Surprising even herself, Emily had the attention of all the kids as she had then gently kicking the balls between partners when all the sudden she felt Natalie bouncing up and down while hitting her back saying, "dada, dada". She turned to see Hotch and JJ walking quickly up to her with Dave and Spencer a few steps behind.

With the kids working on the activity, she stepped away to meet them. JJ came over and gently kissed a sleeping Caitlin on the head.

As soon as Hotch reached them, he carefully loosened the straps on the baby carrier before lifting Natalie out. As he did, he said to her, "be nice to Mommy" as in her excitement, she had moved from hitting Emily to pulling her long ponytail. After giving her a hug and kiss, he passed her onto Dave who was now standing next to Emily.

Excusing themselves, Hotch and JJ turned their attention to their soccer team while Emily, Dave and Spencer walked over to the stands a short distance away.

As they sat down, Spencer asked, "how are party plans?"

From a discussion at dinner before the team went on this last case, Emily's to-do list for the week had included a lot of last minute errands to prepare for the party to celebrate Natalie and Caitlin's first birthday as well as Aaron's 35th birthday on Saturday.

Emily laughed before saying, "I think we're set at this point. JJ and I talked before you left on this last case about what we both wanted. Then while you were gone, I ordered the cakes and balloons. We both went shopping for decorations a couple of weeks ago. I think the only things left are to decorate and pick everything up on Saturday."

"Is Aaron ready to share his birthday?" Dave asked with a glint of humor at Emily's mention of decorations. He had sitting next to Aaron when JJ and Emily had arrived at the house after shopping for the party and had not missed the look he had given the bags of multicolored unicorn items that they had purchased for the joint party.

Emily smiled and nodded as she answered enthusiastically, "yeah, I actually think he is very excited about it. Initially, it really didn't registered with us after everything that was happening that she had been born on his birthday. It wasn't until we were filling out the birth certificate paperwork that we noticed."

"Maybe that what took her so long to come." Spencer said, clearly remembering how frustrated Emily had been the previous year when her due date came and went with no sign that Natalie was going to make her appearance anytime soon.

JJ and Emily had finally gotten to the point where they could laugh about Natalie and Caitlin's shared birthday. They had been due a month apart. But then Emily had gone past her due date and was only days away from being induced when she went into labor and gave birth a couple of hours after arriving at the hospital in the wee hours of the morning. JJ, as she did with Henry, went into labor three weeks early and had given birth just 7 ½ hours after Emily.

Emily huffed before saying, "you mean other than being stubborn. It wouldn't surprise me. She does loves her daddy."

"So does Aaron get a smash cake too?" Dave asked with a smirk.

Emily chuckled at him before shaking her head as she said, "no, just the girls. His cake is what the rest of us can eat, though you can see if your granddaughter will share hers with you if you'd rather."

"Do you have anything else planned for his birthday other than a unicorn party?" Dave said with a smile as he had been teasing Hotch all week about what color unicorn hat he was going to wear.

Emily looked at him and answered, "yes," before pausing with a mischievous expression on her face before she continued, "do you really want to know?"

Spencer turned bright red as he mumbled, "I think I'm going to go over there with Natalie," as he took Natalie from Dave and walked away.

Dave watched them walk away and then he turned back to Emily, chastising her, "did you have to say that? You know it freaks him out when you talk about your and Aaron's sex life." He had whispered the last part given their current location.

Emily had found the change in Dave's attitude on certain topics amusing since he discovered he was her father. This was one of them. There had been several times early in her and Hotch's relationship that Dave had caught them in an inopportune situation. Each time he had cleared his throat, made a smartass comment and told them to carry on before he walked away. That was until a few weeks ago when they were at Dave's house. While talking after dinner, Dave had pulled Aaron aside and told him he would kick his ass if he ever found him in a compromising position with his daughter again.

Emily openly laughed at him before saying quietly, "don't blame me because the two of you have dirty minds. I didn't say anything about sex." And she hadn't. Neither needed to know of the plans she had for the two of them after the kids went to bed on Aaron's birthday or of the new lingerie items she had just happened to have purchased while they were away this week.

Dave cocked his head looking at her before asking, "really, then what were you talking about?" as he cross his arms in front of him.

Emily smiled back at as she replied, "I got tickets for us to go to a Nationals game on Sunday."

Dave raised his eyebrow at her as he asked, "and why wouldn't you tell me that?"

"I was going to surprise you with a ticket to see them beat the Cubs." Emily replied noticing Dave's eyes widen as she spoke. She had planned for her and Aaron to go with the kids but when she looked at the schedule and saw that they were playing the Cubs that weekend, she bought the fifth ticket hoping that Dave wouldn't have plans.

He shook his head at her just as Jack and Henry reach them, effectively ending their conversation. The noise and activity suddenly woke Caitlin who started crying as she rubbed her eyes.

Emily unlatched the carrier and lifted her goddaughter out before rubbing her back as Caitlin rested her head on Emily's shoulder. Her head shot up when she heard her mom's voice when JJ said, "hey Em, how did you end up here with all four kids?" Seeing her daughter turn and hold her arms out, JJ took Caitlin before kissing her forehead as she waited for Emily's answer.

Emily took both baby carriers completely off as she said, "I forgot when Aaron called that I had told Sarah last week that she could leave early today. When I called and asked if she could meet me here with the boys, she reminded me." She sighed before continuing, "and as you know Lily has an evening class on Thursdays. And Will is working second shift today. I didn't want to disappoint Jack and Henry so I just sucked it up. Before she left Sarah helped me get situated with the carriers since both girls had fallen asleep in the car."

The group slowly walked along the path to the parking lot. When they arrived at the cars, Dave said to Emily as he handed Natalie to Hotch, "on the jet, we talked about having dinner at my house tonight. Are you up for it?"

Emily nodded as she said, "sure that sounds great." before turning and reorganizing the backseat of the car. Dave and Hotch looked at each other, both having caught on that something was bothering her

Hotch put his hand on her shoulder and waited until she turned to face him before he said quietly, "what's wrong Em?"

She sighed and shook her head before sadly replying, "I guess Derek isn't coming."

Realizing what the issue was, Dave shook his head and said, "no, he is. He was picking up Garcia and meeting us at my house after they make a stop at the store. They may even get there before us." When Emily looked over to her husband surprised, he also nodded his head.

Things had been better between Derek and Emily however there were still some trust issues which this was a prime example. They had been working out in the gym together and had started having lunch about once a week when they were in the office. Their friendship still was not where it had been or where either of them wanted to be though it had been improving over the last couple of months. Derek knew that he had deeply hurt Emily and that he need to put the actions behind the words if he wanted her to ever trust him again.

"OK, great." Emily said as they got in the car to head to Dave's.

 **####**

Once everyone arrived at Dave's, Emily pulled Spencer aside.

Diana had been recovering at a nearby hospital since she had been transferred after the incident at the sanatorium so she would be close to Spencer. A couple of weeks earlier, her doctor had talked with Spencer about options for her when it came time for her to leave the hospital.

The sanatorium in Las Vegas was no longer an option. Diana had grown anxious anytime it or what happened that day was brought up.

Even if that wasn't a concern it was only set up to care for the mental health needs of its residents where now Diana needed multiple daily therapies as she recovered from her stroke along with a different level of care.

Spencer had been given a list of facilities nationwide which could offer the care she now needed. A few checks by Garcia had eliminated several and other were taken off the list because of concerns with security.

Of the options left, there were a couple close by. Emily had offered to toured them for a first run while the team was away. She shared with Spencer what she had found and the answers to the specific questions he had.

Fortunately, the closest one appeared to be the best option for what Diana needed and what Spencer wanted for her. Emily smiled and agreed that was her assessment as well. She handed him an appointment card with a day and time for a tour for him already set up for the following week. What Emily hadn't told him yet was about the bank account she had set up for Spencer to use for her care.

The previous month she had received the final long awaited decisions and control of the estates that now she considered tainted. With everything she had learned in the last few months, she did not want anything from Sebastian Prentiss.

Their lawyers had referred her and Hotch to an attorney who specialized in finance and accountant to help them navigate liquidating the Prentiss estate. Her plan at that point was to donate most of it to charities that helped victims and families of those involved with child abduction and human trafficking as well as ones helping adults find their birth parents and last but not least several that provided support and services to military families.

She had spoken in depth with Aaron and Dave about her plans and then they discussed in depth various charities that did work in the areas where Emily want the money to go. To her it felt right with all of the pain and manipulation that Sebastian Prentiss' action brought, that the proceeds of his estate should go to victims in the areas where she and Dave were hurt the most.

She hadn't been as upset with her grandfather's estate though still bristled at how the will was written. As far as she could tell, he had known nothing of the illegality of her adoption. She kept a couple of properties he had left her. The one that was the most special to her was his house in France. She couldn't wait until the kids were a little older and they could all go visit. Part of the money from his estate was divided into accounts for Jack and Natalie's education.

Emily was hoping that Spencer would not fight her about the money. She had spoken to Aaron and Dave about it. Dave was also depositing money into the account. Diana and Spencer were not seen as victims as her and Dave were and thus had not received the same compensation. However they felt that Diana and Spencer were victims as well because of William Reid's actions back then and again with the bold attempt to kill Diana a couple of months earlier.

All of them knew how much Spencer loved his mom and wanted the best for her. Even with explaining that William's rage had come because the US Attorney's investigation not their inquiries, they still felt somewhat responsible for what had happened. They wanted to make sure Spencer had the resources to give Diana what he wanted.

 **####**

As Dave watch everyone mill around outside after dinner, he considered all of the changes that had occurred in his life over the last few months.

He had never expected to learn what had happened to his Sophia. After hitting the roadblock with Emma's mom and stepfather, he had been at a loss. His contact once he joined the FBI had only given him a little more. He had mourned the loss and the unknown for years.

Then a set of unlikely circumstances landed right in front of him as he found out she wasn't lost to him forever but had been in his life for three years. She shared his career path as an FBI profiler. He had been her mentor and friend as well as colleague for most of that time. There was an additional sense of pride that what she had achieved had all been because of her efforts. No one could say she got where she was because of his position.

Personally they had also become close. He knew her secrets and had still stood by her. He had hosted her wedding at his house and even given her away. He had been the first one from the team to hold her daughter, his granddaughter after she was born.

And now he felt like the pieces of his life were coming together with more focus. And as they had gotten to know each other better on a different level, he finally found that the giant gaping hole was finally healing.

His biggest regret was that Emma wasn't here to share with him the amazing person their daughter had become. As he thought about Emma, he walked over to the shelves in the family room to where he was now displaying Emma's snow globes. They didn't match the rest of the decor of the room but he didn't care. He would change the rest of the decor before he would get rid of the snow globes.

He had found them in one of the boxes that arrived for him and Emily from Mr Keeler. An accompanying letter from his lawyer informed them that he had passed away five days after their visit. The boxes turned out to be treasure troves as her brother, Nathan had packed everything of hers into them before storing. Having been familiar with most of it, he had explained as many items as he could to Emily as well as pointing out the people he knew in the photo albums.

Emily had taken a few items as well. She had immediately been drawn to the crib blanket and baby clothes that had been chosen for her. She kept most of Emma's books noticing that they had similar tastes in classical literature. But the most meaningful find was the baby book Emma had started for her.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Emily standing next to him.

She looked at him questioningly and asked, "are you OK, Dad?"

Dave put arm around her, still feeling the same thrill every time she called him that. He nodded as he said, "yeah, just thinking. About all the things we've learned over the last few months."

"And?" Emily asked.

"I'm so glad I found you." he answered before turning them and walking back to the group.


End file.
